Shattered
by Lady Sassy Sas
Summary: They had it all, until that one moment when everything shattered into a million, irreparable pieces. Pairing: KakaSaku Warning: Character Death and swearing. Rated M for swearing.
1. I

**Disclaimer: **I, Lady Sassy Sasy, do hereby disclaim all rights to the wonderful world that is Naruto.

* * *

Was someone using a water nin-jutsu? No…then why did it sound as if there was a raging river all around her? Had someone summoned some terrible creature that wouldn't stop howling until everything around it was completely obliterated? She opened her eyes as far as she could and looked around her through blurred vision. Nope, no creature…that she could make out, anyway. Then where was the roaring coming from?

As she lay there on her back, she couldn't help but wonder where everybody was, or where she was for that matter. She was lying on the cold, wet ground surrounded by dead or dying bodies and trees. It was dark and the only light around was that of the half moon and fire from the various lightning and fire element jutsu's that had been used. She blinked as she gazed at the sky. She could feel her blood slowing in her circulatory system with each beat that her heart gave. Her breath was hitching every few minutes now; the blood was slowly filling her lungs. But she couldn't die, for she had another four months to go. Just another four. Then they would be happier than they already were. So, why was she dying now? It was too soon. She tried to move her hand to the curve that was her stomach. She could survive this, right? She had to otherwise their son would die. They had tried so damn hard to conceive; the seventh miscarriage had nearly made her give up all hope.

But they _had_ succeeded. And she, Tsunade, Shizune, Ino, Kakashi and everyone else had been keeping a keen eye out for even the slightest problem. She was a high-risk case. All of the missions through life had left her with some serious uterine scarring, making it near impossible for her to conceive, so when it had finally happened five months ago and she hadn't miscarried in the first three, she had been overjoyed, as had her husband. Anyone could understand why she was feeling pissed off at the moment, not to mention confused as hell and extremely upset. She had gone through all that, just to have it taken away from her for the _eighth bloody time! _

_Kami. You play some fucking cruel tricks at times. Nevermind what it's doing to me emotionally but haven't you taken enough from him, already? Do you really have to go and take another one –possibly two- important things from his life, again?_

"_See anyone alive?" _she could barely make out the voice through the roaring in her ears.

"_No. This is a waste of time, everyone here is either dead or too far gone to even consider taking back for healing," _replied a second voice.

They were familiar…so very familiar and yet, she couldn't put names to the voices, or faces for that matter. What she did know though, was they were allies. How she knew this but not names or faces, she didn't know – didn't care – and with that, she forced her hand to move, grab the closest hard object she could find, channel what little chakra she had to give and make noise. She needed to be found, needed to save their son.

So she hit the hard object repeatedly against something metal, most likely a stray kunai or katana.

"_Hey, do you hear that?" _the first voice asked. There was silence for a few moments.

"_It sounds like…clanging. It's coming from that direction," _the stoic voice responded.

"_Can't you use your-"_

"_No."_

There was more shuffling and twigs snapping as the men drew nearer. She kept banging against metal, even though they probably knew where she was.

"_Is that-"_

"_Sakura!"_ and then she heard the rushing of feet, the slight breeze coming from either side of her as the two males knelt down beside her and one of them covered the hand she was using to hit the metal object with, "_Sakura, can you hear me?"_

Why did his voice sound so far away even though he was right beside her? And why could she not see to whom the voice belonged? It was annoying that she still couldn't put face or name to it.

"_She doesn't look good. I don't think she'll make it back to base," _came the second voice to her left.

"_Sakura, open your eyes." _The first voice spoke to her again, ignoring the companion voice. And as much as she wanted to, her eyes were so heavy... "_Come on, Sakura. Open your eyes. You can do it,"_

All was silent for a few minutes before the owner of the second voice decided to speak out again, "_Shikamaru, her pulse is fading quickly and her breaths are ragged and short. She won't make it back to base. Her chakra is also to the point of being non-existent. It'll be a miracle if she even survives the next five to ten minutes,"_

"_I can see that." _A pause, "_Who's the closest team with a medic-nin around here?"_

"…_I don't think that's the best idea, Nara. They need to concentrate. They're the key players in this whole thing, if that team fails then it's checkmate for us and Konoha loses."_

"_Damn it, Neji! Who the hell is the nearest team!"_

There was deep sigh before the answer came, "_Kakashi's, about fifteen minutes away, due north-east. Shikamaru, she'll be lucky if she even survives for that long…or unlucky depending how you look at it. Besides, are job is to bring back the allies who are most likely to survive long enough to be healed, not to bring back a lost cause."_

"_Shut the fuck up,__Hyūga__! She isn't a lost cause until she's dead and gone. Besides, I promised her that I would make sure nothing happens to the kid should something ever happen to her. She made me promise that if ever she wasn't going to make it for some reason, that her son would and that the father would be reunited with him. I'm not going to break my promise; that's one of the important and wise things I learned from Naruto, which is saying something 'cause we all know how many wise things come out from his mouth when he speaks."_

Neji snorted and looked down at the pale, blood and mud covered kunoichi and frowned, "_What was she doing out here anyway? I thought she was meant to stay behind in the caves with the elderly and children?"_

"_I have no clue, troublesome as that may be. Come on, we don't have time to waste any longer. She's fading faster by the second. This area has been searched, nobody is gonna survive and it's just troublesome and time-wasting to go around and check every single shinobi," _Sakura let out a loud groan of pain as she was scooped up into Shikamaru's arms.

* * *

_How could I forget Shikamaru and Neji? I grew up with both of them for Kami's sake! _Sakura frowned mentally. But she wanted to see their faces again. She needed to; it meant they were real and she wasn't imagining this whole ordeal. She forced her eyes open.

She stared up at Shikamaru's fuzzy face which was set in determination and looking straight ahead. When she looked past him she could barely make out the form of Neji who was on Shikamaru's right as they travelled on the forest ground.

"Sh-k-m-ru?" she managed to croak out before giving a weak cough as she choked on her blood.

Shikamaru looked down at the woman in his arms and saw her dulling green eyes and blood trickling from the corners of her mouth. She was very pale and you could see the amount of pain she was in through her grimace and eyes, "Don't try to talk, Sakura. Save your energy."

Sakura closed her eyes. It was too much effort to keep them open. She let go of all thoughts and just let the wind flow past her. It had a calming effect even though it was making her rather cold.

She had spent most of her teenage years trying to figure out her life, hoping that Sasuke would take her out-stretched hand to lead her to new, exciting places. Thinking how she would've gone with him to the ends of the earth and back again if it meant she could be with him. It never happened. Never would've worked out. He had left her there on that bench on that damn, cold night. Gone off to Orochimaru and then, after killing the Sannin, gone and formed his own group before killing his brother and working alongside Akatsuki.

She had felt nothing but sorry for him. He had been manipulated his whole life by Itachi, then Orochimaru and then Tobi or whatever his name happened to be. He had never really thought for himself or beyond the seeds that were planted into his brain that made him corrupt; mainly those planted by his brother. He had died during the Allied Shinobi War. All she had felt was relief when she heard. Well, sadness too but Kakashi and Naruto had been there to help her through it. They had all been there for each other. It was six months after the war that she had come to the realisation that she had feelings for Kakashi. Another three years before she had the courage to act on them. Another year before Kakashi had given into her advances. Then another two and they were happily married, with her being twenty-two and him being thirty-six. Age hadn't really been a concern for them. It had taken them another two before she finally became with-child. And so, here she was, at the age of twenty-four, five months pregnant with her and Kakashi's son, dying in the arms of one of her closest friends. Funny how life turned out, wasn't it?

When Shikamaru and Neji took to the trees, a pain shot through Sakura's abdominal area and she gave out a pained whimper.

Shikamaru glanced at the Kunoichi, "Hang on a bit longer, Sakura," he muttered determinedly before turning his attention ahead of him again, "How long until we reach their team, Neji?"

"…Another seven minutes or so," came his calm reply.

Shikamaru let out a sigh and glanced back down at the pink-haired woman in his arms again. Her lips were barely moving, obviously sub-consciously, voicing her thoughts, although he couldn't make out what she was saying. He only hoped he'd reach Kakashi's team in time. If she couldn't be saved then he sure as hell hoped the child could be, if it wasn't dead already. He knew her chances of survival were next to zero. He saw that when they first laid eyes on her. Her injuries were too great and she had already lost a substantial amount of blood never mind the internal bleeding. Shikamaru had never really been close to Sakura when they were kids and they didn't really become friends until they had become chunnin. But they had become a hell of a lot closer when they turned eighteen and had remained close ever since. After all, she had given her virginity to him. They had been a thing since the age of sixteen but they had mutually ended it when they had both turned eighteen. He had gotten together with Temari but not before having a two year relationship with the prattling long-haired blonde, team mate of his, Yamanaka Ino. It had been a good run but they just weren't suited to each other.

Ino was still single and loving it. Even though she had been obsessed with romantic idealisms when she was a gennin up until she became jounin and age twenty-one, he knew Ino wasn't looking to settle down just yet. She was still having a fun life being single and free without having a husband to boss around all day or kids to look after. She was a wild party girl and if he had to guess who her recent boy-toy was it would be Shiranui Genma. But that had ended a month before this war broke out and now all the shinobi chunnin rank and up were busy protecting the village and non-combatant people residing in it. Sakura was supposed to be one of those non-combatant people, which was what he was currently still trying to suss out. What the hell was she doing out in the middle of the battlefield when she was off-duty? How did she manage to escape the guards who were protecting the tunnels that lead into Hokage mountain? One thing was for sure, Kakashi wasn't going to take this well if he was with his team, when they arrived. And furthermore, even if she wanted to, he knew Sakura wasn't going to be able to explain it herself or talk at all for that matter.

"Shikamaru, we'll be there in thirty seconds. I can see three chakra signatures already. They appear to be Shizune, Kurenai and Genma. Raidou and Kakashi must be out either patrolling or setting up," Neji released the Byakugan, just as they stepped past the last of the traps and confusion genjutsu set-up by Kurenai to confuse anyone who it didn't recognise belonging to Konoha.

"Wh-Shikamaru? Neji? What are you two doing he- is that…is that Sakura?" Shizune's demand got quiet as she spotted the nearly dead woman in the Nara-boy's arms.

"Hai. Shizune, I very much doubt you'll be able to save her but I think you might be able to save their son," Shikamaru gently set Sakura on the ground about seven feet away from the fire. He looked up into her dark eyes with a mixture or sorrow, pleading and determination, "I promised her, that if anything should happen to her that I'd do my damndest to ensure her child survived. Please, Shizune, I can't and won't break that promise."

Kurenai looked back and forth between Sakura, her stomach, Shikamaru and Shizune with a horrified yet sad expression. She knew war. She had been in two before and now she was in her third and no stranger to loss. She was just thankful that her child was safe in Konoha, in the tunnels with one of her civilian friends. She had lost Asuma; she didn't want to lose their child.

On the other side of the fire, having been preparing the scrolls needed for the teams objective, Genma was now standing and looking over the fire and his best friend's wife who for all intense and purpose, was dead. His eyes filled with pain and pity for he knew of the hardship his silver-haired friend had gone through all his life and then the brief years of happiness before all the miscarriage shit happened. And now, the fact that his wife was finally carrying their child and dying before even having the chance to give birth….this was bullshit. He felt like tearing the enemy apart even more but he didn't and wouldn't. Instead, he slowly made his way over to the pink-haired beauty who had become like a sister to him, and gently knelt beside her and took hold of her left hand in both of his before running his right hand over her forehead and then through her hair. He felt how icy her skin was and felt that pang of icy fear and pure sadness radiate through him before the sympathy and anger set back in. Kakashi would be back with Raidou in about five minutes after planting the exploding tags over the enemy's base.

"Sakura…" he breathed before bringing her hand up to his mouth and keeping it there. How the world could be so cruel, he'd never know.

"Shizune, if we have any hope of saving the child you need to do something about now, while she's still alive. She's barely hanging on and her chakra pathways have all but shut down completely, now." Neji's voice broke through the silence that had engulfed the five.

Shizune blinked and slowly tore her eyes away from one of her best friends and subordinates to the pale-eyed Hyūga before her eyes hardened with a fierce determination. She quickly got up and moved to the right hand side of Sakura's body, opposite Genma and let her chakra flood to her hands before hovering them over Sakura's slightly bulging abdomen as she concentrated on the damage. She gasped out loud in horror and amazement that the woman and survived this long considering most of her internal organs had burst or been damaged in some capacity or another. Her eyes filled with tears as she realised Shikamaru was right: there was no chance of saving the pink-haired cherry blossom of Konoha. But there was a chance to save her son.

"Kurenai! Go into my bag and bring out the blue vial and a syringe and inject five milligrams of it right into her stomach," she instructed as she continued to flood the area surrounding the child with her chakra, trying to keep the pressure down due to the build of blood around it. This was going to be one hell of a test in her abilities as a medic-nin and it wasn't much later that she realised she was going to need a second pair of hands to help her. "Neji?"

She could see him walk around and kneel beside the senbon-user and straight across from herself, "Hai?"

"See what I'm doing with my chakra?" a curt nod from the Byakugan user, "I need you to continue doing that with your chakra. Can you manage?"

"I will do my best," Neji gave a slight nod and focused his chakra the same way he saw Shizune doing it.

"A bit more force…there! Now keep the flow steady until I tell you to stop." And as she said that she got up and walked over to the bags at the base of a tree and pulled out blankets and three sleeping bags from various packs before bringing them back over. "Alright Neji, keep going. Genma, Shikamaru. I need you to roll her over, just enough so I can put these sleeping bags under her and then we need to cover her with at least four of these blankets then I want you to use your chakra and warm her up gently as much as you can. This is going to hurt her quite a bit but I need her alive, at least until the baby's out, understand? Alright. Three, two, one, now!"

* * *

Three minutes later and Sakura was cushioned and her temperature was being raised slowly and gently by the shadow-user and the flirtatious senbon-wielder. Shizune gave one last look at the girl's bloody and dirty face before making a blade out of her chakra and begin to open up her abdomen. Of course, it was then that the Copy-nin and Raidou came back.

"Alright, the tags are set and ready to detonate, now all we need to do is- what's going on?" Kakashi finally turned to look at the scene. Two of his team members where crouched over someone and Shizune looked like she was operating on said someone. Neji and Shikamaru were with them as well. He looked over to the third member of his team and saw the worried and hesitant expression on her face and the full-blown sorrow and….sympathy? in her eyes, "Kurenai?"

The black-haired, red-eyed woman frowned deeply before making her way over to them before placing her hand over Kakashi's bicep and gently pushing him further away from the other group. She stopped and looked at Raidou before glancing down at the floor. Gathering her courage, she raised her eyes to meet Kakashi's one obsidian one and whatever she was about to say fled from her mind as her eyes started to well with tears.

Kakashi frowned as he saw this happen. If it made Kurenai, who was one of the toughest Kunoichi he knew, cry then it was definitely something to worry about, "Kurenai. What's going on?" he asked a bit lower with more seriousness and something akin to worry seeping into his tone.

"Kakashi…it's Sakura.." she started but stopped once she saw the blank look take over his eye but she knew his mind was racing with all the various thoughts.

"What about her?" he finally responded once he had gone through every possible scenario he could come up with, "She's in Konoha." He had made sure she had gone into the tunnels, and had ensured that one of the best medic-nin's in Konoha's hospital was with her. He had forced Tsunade to assign one to her, although, Tsunade hadn't really put up that much a of fuss over it. Sakura was like a daughter to her after all.

Kurenai shook her head and a few tears fell, "No, Kakashi. She isn't."

"What do you mean she isn't? How do you know!" Kakashi's heart was starting to palpitate a little faster as his gaze slid over to the group behind Kurenai's shoulder.

The kunoichi looked to Raidou and saw, as he also stared in the same direction as Kakashi, that he got it. He looked quickly from Kurenai, who nodded her head in confirmation to the unasked question in his eyes, back over to Sakura and then to Kakashi. He bowed his head and walked off.

The silver-haired shinobi barely noticed, Raidou's departure as he turned his gaze back to Kurenai, "Kurenai, I'm not going to ask again. Explain." He glared at her as he clenched his fists sub-consciously.

"Five minutes or so ago, Shikamaru and Neji appeared in the camp with an injured shinobi – the one Shizune is attending to at the minute." She paused as she took a deep breath, "He told her that she had very little to no chance of saving the shinobi but-"

"Then why bother bringing the shinobi if there is no chance of saving them? It's a waste of time and effort." Kakashi pointed out in an emotionless tone.

"-_But_," Kurenai continued as if he hadn't interrupted her, "there was a chance of saving the child she's carrying," This time Kurenai looked into his eye with a pleading expression, hoping he would get it on his own, without her having to tell him. But his gaze was focused on Shizune who at that moment was in the process of pulling out the child from the mother's uterus. It looked too small to him.

"What does any of this have to with Sakura?" he questioned as he brought his gaze back to meet with red eyes.

She dropped her gaze slightly before meeting him dead on with nothing but sympathy, "Kakashi…that shinobi – the injured, pregnant one – is Sakura." She whispered.

Kakashi's mind stopped. So did all of his other four senses. The only one working was his sight but even then he was dubious, for the baby who wasn't wailing and the injured woman on the ground couldn't be his family. Sakura was back in the caves. She was safe. She wasn't lying 10 feet away from him, dying and bloody and Shizune most certainly wasn't delivering their baby in the middle of a forest, near a hostile area. This was all a nightmare or some horrible genjutsu that the enemy had trapped him in. There was no possible way that his wife and child were there…

No.

Possible.

Way.

* * *

Shikamaru stared at his best friend's face which was scrunched up from pain and the struggle to hang on. He felt pity for her. He looked at Shizune who was busy working on the tiny boy wrapped in a warm thick blanket. Then he felt something brush his hand. He snapped his eyes down to where his hand lay beside Sakura's and watched as her finger slowly and unsteadily traced something into his palm. He picked up her hand his left and brought his right up to her finger before telling her to try again. It took a few moments but eventually her finger moved and re-traced what she had tried to convey before.

"Shi…ka…shi?" he whispered hoarsely. She retraced the characters again, this time more firmly, "Shikashi?" Shikamaru stared as her fingers grasped at his in confirmation. He looked to see her green eyes looking straight back at his with pleading in her eyes.

She wanted him to understand and Shikamaru was the smartest in their generation. He had to get it.

"Shikashi? What do y- Oh. You want him to be called Shikashi?" he looked at her. Her hand feebly squeezed his fingers again in confirmation. Shikamaru smiled and nodded his head, "Don't worry, Sakura. I'll make sure they know his name." and he gave her hand a small squeeze back.

* * *

Her eyes teared up as they shone with gratitude. She would get one of her dying wishes. Her last one being to see Kakashi again and to see her son.

"Sakura, would you like to see your son?" she heard Shizune ask quietly as she saw from her peripheral vision, the brown-haired woman walk and gently kneel down beside her head and shoulder on her right side. She squeezed Shikamaru's hand, conveying her answer.

"She says yes," he answered for her.

"Okay. Genma get behind her and help raise her up slightly and help her support her son," Shizune instructed quietly.

Genma, who had been silent this whole time while feeling like a spirit viewing the ordeal outside of his body snapped to attention and did Shizune's bidding. And as he did, he looked at Kakashi's and Sakura's son and couldn't help the soft gasp and small smile that formed on his lips. He had seen and done many horrible things in his life but it was at times like these, that he knew everything would be alright. Small miracles like the one that was passed from Shizune and into the dying mother's arms made the world seem less harsh and cruel. And as he supported and helped Sakura support her new-born son; he couldn't help but feel content. He doubted he'd ever have children of his own but he knew damn sure that he'd help Hatake raise this child and he knew for a fact that he would be the one to spoil him rotten and be the first to corrupt him; it was every uncle's duty after all.

* * *

Kakashi continued to stand there, mouth hanging open in disbelief and eyes filled with denial. He refused to believe that his wife was dying as Shizune passed _his son_ into her arms as Genma supported them.

"Kakashi, go over to them. This is the last time you'll get to spend with her, the last time in which to tell her the things you want to say to her that she'll be able to hear. Go to her, Kakashi. Don't live with the horrid, heavy regret of not having done so." Kurenai gently prodded him in his lower back.

He stumbled forward a few steps before regaining his balance and continued to walk uncertainly to his family. He had to be dreaming. This was all just a fucking, terrible, screwed up nightmare, right?

As he knelt down in the place where Genma had been and reached out to brush a lock of her hair behind her ear, he realised that no, this wasn't a dream or a nightmare. It was reality. A fucked-up, bullshit of a reality. And then Sakura managed to raise those emerald eyes of hers to his one obsidian one and he instantly saw them alight with as much brightness as she could give. He bent down and kissed her on the lips before turning and looking down at their son, who was breathing quite rapidly. He frowned at this a looked at Shizune in concern but she just gave a sad smile before ushering Shikamaru and Neji away. Kakashi turned to look Genma who met his gaze through the rain that had started to steadily pour, nodded before gently giving his spot behind Sakura to the man he considered his brother.

And as Kakashi held his family in his arms, the first tear fell from his eye. It was the first time he had cried since Rin had died all those years ago. But this time, it was so much worse. For Rin, Minato and Obito may have been his first team and surrogate family but Sakura and the baby in her arms were his actual family. A family that had just begun and already a member was being taken away the life of another was unsure.

Kakashi had many regrets in his life but Sakura was not one of them. He loved her with all of his being and more, and did not regret a single day he had spent with her, especially since she was nineteen. He was glad he had married her and was ecstatic when they had found out they had actually conceived.

But now, that was being taking away from them again. Only this time, they weren't losing a foetus. This time he was losing her and possibly the baby as well. And he knew that if he lost the both of them, this time he wouldn't bother trying to carry on no matter what anyone said to him. He would just stop living in every way. And he would finally accept death with open arms and a warm smile.

But now was not the time to dwell on these thoughts, as he felt Sakura give a feeble cough, trying to clear the blood in her lungs and throat to breathe. She was in her last minute of living and he had to make the most of it.

He pulled her closer against him and kissed the side of her neck before bringing his mouth to ear to whisper the last words she'd ever hear from him, "I love you and our child, Sakura. I am blessed to have you both and I thank you for being with me; wanting to stay with me and have a family together." He took a deep breath and took in her scent of lavender and cherry blossoms before continuing, "I have watched you grow since you were twelve and I am so proud of the woman you have become. You weren't and never have been weak, despite what you think. Yes, you were obsessed with love –always have been- and besotted with Sasuke but you were never weak, at least not in mind and that's what I have always admired about you. You are my first and the only woman I will ever love. I'm in love with you and have been since you were nineteen." He looked down at her green eyes and more tears slipped from both of his eyes but he did nothing to stop them and repeated the last line of their vows to her dwindling hearing, "Till death do us part and beyond, I devote and pledge myself to you in every way I am able, until I am unable to."

And then he cried openly and sobs wracked his body, for she had died before he was able repeat the last line of their vows before she had taken her last a final breath.

* * *

Shikamaru and Neji finally made it to the base camp twenty minutes later after departing from Kakashi's team, flying through the trees as fast as they could. He looked down at the tiny bundle in his arms before walking up the steps onto the porch before through the doors in the med-tent. He gazed over the cots and the dozens of shinobi occupying them and the medics who were tending them, looking for the blonde-haired Hokage and spotted her off to the left near the door to her office. He looked back at Neji who carried the body of one Haruno Sakura in his arms.

As they moved through the tent to the woman of their attention there were gasps, horrified whispers and quite a few sobs that rolled through the tent in one long, slow wave. Tsunade looked up sharply as she heard the various reactions before the clipboard in her hand dropped with a clatter to the floor and a hand flew up to cover her mouth. She looked from Shikamaru and the baby to Neji and the dead body of her dear apprentice/daughter in his arms. She quickly composed herself to best of her ability before turning her around, opening the door, holding it for the two shinobi to pass through before snapping it shut and locking it. She quickly shoved everything off the desk for Neji to lay Sakura down on and then turned her attention to the new born baby in the other man's arms. She let chakra pool in her hands before letting it gently stream into the tiny body.

His lungs were very under-developed and his heart although small, was strong. He needed to be hooked up to a ventilator and soon. She quickly walked to the door, unlocked it and poked her head out and beckoned to one of the medics near her and asked for a ventilator to be brought along with heart monitoring and other respiratory equipment as well as a drip.

Ten minutes later and the baby was hooked up and when she was finally satisfied with everything she turned to face the two men and the woman on lying dead on her desk. She knew the first moment she laid eyes on the pink-haired medic-nin that there was nothing she could do. Sakura was gone.

"Report." And she stood beside the body and gently stroked her hair as she listened to two of her most prestigious subordinates recount the details.

* * *

Kakashi stumbled into the med-tent along with the rest of his team. His eye was lifeless and his sharingan was raging with pain. His body felt like a dead weight and he wanted nothing more than to be at home, snuggling with Sakura and stroking her stomach. But he couldn't.

He was needed here. Sakura was dead and not pregnant, anymore. Their son was born and somewhere within the vicinity along with his wife's body. But he was too tired and sore to ask about it. He needed to lie down and sleep. He needed pain-killers. But most of all he needed the one thing he couldn't have…because she was gone forever.

He spotted an empty cot and started to make his way over to it as Genma said his name, "Kakashi..."

"Hatake!" and Kakashi groaned. He wanted…no, not wanted – _needed _sleep. He stopped but made no movement towards the leader of his village for he knew what she wanted and knew who she had with her. He just stayed, swaying on the spot as his eyes gazed at the floor. Maybe that was a good place to sleep. If he couldn't make it to the cot the next best place was the floor, right? It was comfy, surely.

"Hatake?" The Godaime's voice sounded closer but the same time, so far away. But the floor seemed to be calling him closer. Literally. He felt his front collide with it but no pain came. He just stared at the legs of an occupied cot with no thoughts running through his head. He vaguely heard someone curse and then his body was being rolled over and then lifted onto the empty cot he had been making his way to before. He closed his eye and tried to let his mind sink into oblivion.

He was barely aware of someone opening his eye and shining a light into it before his hitai-ate was removed and chakra flowed into Obito's eye and easing the excruciating pain that stemmed from the chakra pathway that kept it permanently activated and then even more chakra flowed through the rest of his body from four other various points, healing the cuts, bruises, breaks, fractures and whatever other hellish injuries he'd acquired. During all this he whispered his deceased wife's name before sinking into blissful unconsciousness.

* * *

He awoke three days later and noticed that he had been moved from the main area to a secluded room. He was confused for a moment as to how he got there but then it all came flooding back in one unwanted tsunami. He winced and tried to hold back the tears that threatened to spill again. Instead he decided to take in his new surroundings to take his mind off of the reality of his situation.

He was in some sparsely furnished office. His bed was to the left side of the room underneath the only window in the room with the door to the right of it and the desk at the opposite wall, directly facing the door and to the right in the back corner was a filing cabinet and just above that and slightly to the right was cupboard. Further up from that was – his heart stopped before racing. He felt panic, pride, joy, sorrow and anger swell within him all at once and he had to clutch his chest to help him breathe and prevent them from escaping.

Slowly he got up; ripping the various wires attached to him, of and made his way over to the plastic box shaped thing that contained the tiniest human being he had only seen once before in the arms of its mother.

He gently placed his hand on the plastic cover and stared down at his son. He just stared and stared without expression. He kept replaying the last moments in which he had held Sakura in the forest while she was dying and he felt somewhat happy and grateful that she at least got to hold her son and see her family one last time before she left them for good. He gently stuck his hand through one of the holes in the side and stroked his sons face before gently bringing it down to his tiny hands where his son suddenly latched onto his index finger and he was surprised at the strength he already possessed.

"Sakura...our son is…" but he didn't know how finish it that sentence because all the words he came up with to describe him, just weren't enough.

"A wonderous and welcome miracle," a voice finished softly behind him. He didn't turn as she came up beside him, "It's good to see you up, Kakashi. It was a bit touch and go there, I wasn't sure if you were going to live. I'm glad you did or this little guy would have been an orphan…that or the Hatake and Haruno lines, would have both ended and what would have been a prestigious family would have died before it had even begun," she paused before divesting another bit of information, "Sakura named him Shikashi and she wanted him to take your surname if you wanted that too."

Kakashi didn't reply in any way. He just continued to stare at the little baby boy and wondered if he would survive. But he knew, and so did the woman beside him, that he had no argument against Sakura's wishes.

"He should. He'd have an even better chance if he went back to Konoha were they have all the proper facilities and right equipment. So far, Shizune and I have been able to keep him and you going," Tsunade stared down at the child before putting her hand on his father's shoulder and giving it a squeeze, "I'm sorry and distraught as you are over her death, Kakashi. I also want to know how the hell she ended up out there and rest assured I will be making a full enquiry out of it when I get back. Hell, if I have to I'll make it an S-classed mission and have the elites on it.

"Her body is ready to be taken back to Konoha. We'll be leaving late this afternoon and her funeral will be held two days after we get back and then a week of memorial services will be held for all of those who have fallen before I come back here. You on the other hand won't be returning. Neither will Genma or Kurenai. I'm giving you and indefinite leave of paid absence."

Kakashi felt like giving a deep sigh but he didn't. He was bone tired and didn't want to fight anymore. He was glad that Tsunade was giving him this. More than he could ever show or say but Kakashi would try to convey it. So he did the only thing he had ever done willingly for Sakura. He turned and engulfed his Hokage in a tight hug, "Thank you, Tsunade. Thank you."

* * *

**Well, this is a oneshot that I've had in my head for a long time and I've only been bothered to write it now what with me being wide awake and sleep evading me as per usual. The title of this fic is due to a song called Shattered by Trading Yesterday and it is amazing! Check it out if you haven't heard it before ^^  
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**Fanart: gallery/#/d5fik3d (if someone could tell me how to the icon link, it would be very helpful!) by the awesome theFudgy94 over on Deviant Art!**

**Also, this is also until I can write chapter three for my other story: Hope for the Hopeless (please check it out if you haven't already!)  
**

**Reviews are greatly appreciated!  
**

**Thanks for reading!  
**

**Lady Sassy Sas  
**


	2. II

**Disclaimer: **I, Lady Sassy Sas, do hereby disclaim all rights to the wonderful world that is Naruto.

* * *

Kakashi looked down at the boy in the hospital cot. The said baby was holding onto the pinkie finger of his father and gurgling away happily, his multi-coloured eyes shining with delight. He was currently nine months and ten days old and was healthy. Kakashi couldn't help but think he definitely had Sakura's strength. Ever since the day he had come back to Konoha with the Hokage, his son and the body of his wife he had been in a constant state of turmoil, swinging from emotion to emotion. He had wondered how women coped when they were hormonal but the speculation was short lived.

He had pulled through it all and here he was, four months later after the event and getting to take his son home with him. Finally. The only thing that would make this moment completely perfect would be if a certain pink-haired Kunoichi was with him. They would soon be at the Hatake household, living life and Kakashi would continue to change his nappies and feed him and looking after his son in general…without his counter-part.

Sighing and with a frown on his face he gazed at his son and clenched his left hand which was hanging by his side, in a fist out of frustration and sorrow. Sakura's funeral had been beautiful and heart felt. The sun had been ablaze, the birds singing and the whole village and all of the shinobi, who were at home, had been present. Tsunade had given one of the most moving eulogies he had ever heard.

_I wish you were here to see our son, Sakura. I wish you were here to help me raise him._

He didn't turn as he heard the door to the room open and then close softly behind him, "You just need to sign these two forms and, then, you're free to take him home."

Kakashi looked up at the brown-haired medic-nin and gave a slight, appreciative smile before accepting the pen and the forms attached to a clipboard. After a few seconds or so they were handed back to the medic and Kakashi turned back to the small infant.

"Are you sure you don't want someone to help you? I'm sure Tsunade-sama wouldn't begrudge Ino the time off to help you, Kakashi." Shizune smiled at Shikashi. He was the spitting image of his mother with the baby pink hair and the ring of green in each of his eyes. In fact, it was hard to find any physical traits belonging to Kakashi in the child, save for the ring of black inside of the ring of green in his eyes. It made it look like he had huge pupils.

"Don't worry, Shizune. I've got help but thanks for the offer," he squeezed her hand before turning back to the cot, "So…can I take him home now?"

Shizune smiled warmly at them both, "Yes, you're free to take your son home. I'm sure you're relieved to hear that after all these months,"

Kakashi chuckled as he carefully lifted his now sleeping son out of the cot and cradled his blanket-wrapped form in his arms, staring down at him with adoration, "You have no idea."

* * *

Okay. Sakura and countless others had told him to be prepared for sleepless nights due to feeding, changing, and winding and so on, but really? He rubbed his droopy eyes as he sat up and sighed before clambering out of bed and walking into the room next to his and picking up the crying form of his son. He started to gently rock him as he made his way downstairs to the kitchen to get him a bottle of milk.

He gazed at his son suckling at the bottle happily. He was ten months now and the fear was really starting to set in for Kakashi. He needed Sakura there. He couldn't do this. He couldn't continue to raise this baby boy by himself. He wasn't the type of man to be a single father; after all, his father (although not bad) hadn't exactly been a great single-parent. He had lost his way somewhere down the line and then after the ordeal with saving his comrades instead of carrying out the mission, he had completely given up and left Kakashi to deal with everything by himself. Kakashi could see himself following down a similar path and it scared the shit out of him.

Yes, he had help from quite a number of people and there were motherly stand-ins such as Kurenai and Hinata but he doubted it would be enough. Shikashi would need a mother soon. His frown deepened as he put the bottle down and walked to the sitting room and lounged on the sofa, holding his son in his arms as his gaze fixated on the wall ahead. Could he do it? Could he re-marry? Could he really replace Sakura with someone else? It'd need to be a shinobi. Although he had no problem with the civilians, he wouldn't be cruel enough to marry one, not with an undetermined future. Not when he could be called to do a mission and never return. He couldn't and wouldn't do it. If he married a Kunoichi then she would already be aware of the risks but, that wouldn't exactly be fair.

Once he had winded his son, and the boy was peacefully asleep once again, Kakashi sighed but didn't move from his place. He was too tired to trundle all the way back upstairs so he stayed put.

_Sakura, why were you out there? Whatever in the world made you go out there? You knew how hostile it was. You had been at every meeting. You knew the risks. You even had Tsunade put me on one of the less risky missions for the battle so why? You promised me that you would stay in those caves; vowed to look after yourself and our child. You even promised Tsunade and Naruto. I don't understand._

_Tsunade is still looking into how you got out there but she hasn't found a damn indication and she has forbidden me to try and help search for any clues or reasons because of Shikashi needing me to look after him. She's right, of course, but it's too damn frustrating. I've been going over and over your actions these past two years and everything you've been doing and I can't see anything remotely suspicious or anything that could give an indication._

He sighed and closed his eyes and let his mind wander over their years together. Trying to see if his subconscious would find anything but he knew it was in vain. There was nothing to be found. He needed to get out there and search for clues, reasons; any indications. He knew Sakura better than anyone…well, everyone except Naruto, maybe.

Naruto had also been helping him to come up with anything and he had tried to think of her behaviour as well but even he couldn't think of anything. Naruto had been closest to Sakura along with Kakashi. He had given a short speech at her funeral as well and he had stayed with Kakashi at her grave for the seven hours after her funeral. He had also been helping out with Shikashi as much as he could but he had been extremely busy helping get Konoha's defences back up and treaties between all the Hidden Villages. He was well on his well to accomplishing his life-long dream of being Hokage.

The silver-haired ninja smiled at this. Out of his first and only gennin team, one was still alive. He remembered thinking that if any were going to die first or young it would've been the blonde. How wrong he'd been. He'd have never thought that Naruto would become the most accomplished of the three of them. That he would be the closest to achieving his goal. That he would be the only one to survive. Of course, Kakashi had been wrong about many things to do with the team and other things. But who was he to predict the future? He could make guesses and most were usually accurate but those guesses were based on what he saw and analysed.

He remembered when and how Sasuke died and shivered. He could still remember his, Naruto's and Sakura's reactions to it. That day had not been one of the best in his life.

Sakura's death, trumped it of course. It was right up there, next to Obito's, Rin's and Minato's deaths.

He didn't even want to think of Naruto's. That would be too much for him. He couldn't out live both of his teams. It would be too much to handle. Shikashi stirred a bit before settling down again. Kakashi watched as he yawned which made him yawn in turn. And finally, he felt tired enough to go back to sleep.

_What was I thinking? Of course I can't re-marry or get together with another woman. Nobody but Sakura will do. Shikashi is her son and no other woman's. Fucking idiot, Kakashi…._

* * *

Kakashi swung at the wooden stump again and this time it let out a loud groan as it split in half. He panted and glared at the split. He had been here for a good six hours now, taking his frustration and anger and misery out on anything and everything within his range (excluding people). He was in the training ground that Team 7 and regularly used. Naruto had been by earlier and offered to spar with him but Kakashi had politely but firmly turned him down and told him he needed to be alone. Obviously, the blonde haired ninja had spread the word to avoid the training ground for nobody had come by since.

Shikashi was currently with Tsunade at the Hokage tower. She had decided to take a day off and to spend it with his son, doting on his every move.

He hit the wood again with less force while still panting. _Damn it, damn it, DAMN IT!_ He jumped ten feet back and threw shuriken and kunai at the three blocks, effectively burying them. _Quadruple damn it._ Sighing he rubbed his brow and went over to try a retrieve the weapons.

"I somehow doubt you're going to get them out without destroying the logs,"

Kakashi paused but carried on anyway, deciding to ignore the new comer in the hopes that he'd go away. _Wishful thinking on my part._

"So, what has the great copy-nin riled up all of a sudden?"

"Not riled up. Pissed off." Kakashi grunted as he tried to yank a shuriken out.

"No; pissed off Kakashi wouldn't be hanging around in a training ground beating wood into a pulp. Pissed off Kakashi would be on a solo mission where he could be the living crap out of an enemy without a care in the world and not having to suffer any consequences as a result of said beating. N'aw, man, you're just riled up," the intruder smirked as he finished his explanation and saw his friend stop trying to pull the weapons out and instead turning his head around to face him.

He shrugged before resuming his slouched posture, with his hands buried in his pockets. He walked over, slumped against one of the logs before sliding down and sitting on the ground, "So, back to the question. What has you so riled up?"

Kakashi stared at Genma with a bored expression and considered going back to collecting the metal instruments but decided against it and joined the other jounin on the ground.

"Nothing."

"Hmm. That's a lie if ever I heard one," Genma closed his eyes and leaned his head back, letting the sun shine on his face, "And I've heard a lot coming from you, myself, Tsunade and Anko over the years."

"Hn."

"Something's obviously set you off. I would ask if you wanted to get this talk over with in the normal way but I value my balls and life too much for that. Besides," he glanced around the area, "it doesn't seem to be working too well,"

Kakashi didn't reply or give any sort of indication to agree with the senbon-wielding man.

"Naruto's worried about you. He may not have said anything but he doesn't need to. He can wear his heart on his sleeve nearly as well as Sakura had. He shows his emotions when he needs to or thinks he needs to." Genma gave a slight smirk around his senbon, allowing that little tid-bit sink in for Kakashi, "He's been very busy and in a few more months or years he'll be taking over from Tsunade. Hell, she even lets him run the village on some occasions when she has to go to a meeting or she just wants a break. He's got enough on his plate without having to worry about you, you old git,"

Kakashi blinked his one eye and continued to stare at Genma with a bored expression. Genma knew better. He knew Kakashi was processing everything he had said and taking it all on board.

The Copy-nin gazed at the soil between them. He knew Genma was right. Naruto didn't need the extra worry. He needed Kakashi's support but Kakashi wasn't in the right mind-set to give it to him. He was barely in the right mind-set to look after his son; one of the reasons Tsunade had taken him for the day, he suspected. He needed to talk but it wasn't as easy as that. It never had been. Even when he had started dating Sakura and eventually married him.

Sakura didn't need him to talk about his problems though. She had been far too perceptive. She had known what was going on his mind most of the time and knew when he needed her support, comforting touch, reassurance or when he needed space and time to think and mull things over for himself. Nobody had known him like she had. Nobody ever would.

"Well, if you don't want to talk about then we can always-" but Genma was interrupted.

"It's not that I don't; you know how hard it is for me to talk about anything personal, Genma," Kakashi spoke quietly as his gaze at the ground became more intense, "It's at times like these when Sakura used to be the most helpful person about. She didn't need me to voice my problems, she instinctively knew them," he turned his gaze to the sky, "It's everything really; being a single father, not getting any closer to solving the mystery of how/why she was out there, being stuck in the village all the time, being trapped in my own mind and emotions…everything!"

Genma opened his eyes to stare at his friend-come-brother. He didn't know how to respond to that. His usual way of dealing with emotional problems and being trapped in his own mind were to get plastered at the bar and have sex all night long with some woman. But he had a feeling that that wouldn't work for this situation. Despite the rumours that went around before Kakashi and Sakura got together, his friend had never been much of a playboy. Sure, he had a few one-night-stands but he didn't go out of his way to shag every woman he laid eyes on. Genma was definitely at a loss of what to say to help the man.

"Guess I should go and pick my son up. Tsunade must be tired of him by now." Kakashi picked himself of the ground and had his scattered weapons collected and in his pouch in record time. He began to walk away from Genma, "Ja ne, Shiranui," He lazily lifed his arm in his usual goodbye gesture.

The brown-haired shinobi frowned before bolting after the Copy-nin, an idea suddenly coming to him.

"Wait up, Hatake!" Genma grabbed his arm to stop the man from moving forward, "You need a break, man."

"What?" Kakashi's eyebrow lifted up in question.

"You. Need. A. Break." He repeated slowly.

"No. I heard but from what, exactly?"

Genma smirked, "Everything."

Kakashi sweat-dropped. He didn't like the look on the playboy's face nor his tone.

* * *

He knew there was a reason he never celebrated his day of birth each year…aside from the fact his age was shoved in his face. It was one of Kakashi's personal hells. Sakura had tried for two years to get him to celebrate his but she had never succeeded. It brought a smile to face as he remembered her attempts.

It quickly faded as he saw what was in front of him at the moment. _It's too much effort for something that's only going to last a few hours and something that he'll never even remember but I made a promise to Sakura._

He resisted the urge to sigh and tried to concentrate on the plan in front of him. Ino had offered to help him but he had out-right (albeit politely) refused. He didn't want a big extravaganza or something which would cost him a mild fortune. Where was Kurenai when you needed her? Oh right, away on a mission.

He glared at the paper in front of him and was about to go off on another tangent in his head about how much he hated birthday's when he heard a soft knock at the door. He cringed and hoped Shikashi wouldn't wake up. He already had his father's hearing and woke up at the slightest of noises.

He slowly, quietly and quickly made his way to the door and opened it to find a white-eyed Kunoichi in front of him, "Hinata. How may I help you?"

The woman smiled timidly, "I actually thought you might want or need some help, Kakashi."

Kakashi just stared at her blankly.

She shifted a bit, "You know, with the planning?" she brought her eyes to meet his blank one.

He stood there for another minute until what she had said processed and smiled, "Sorry, of course. I'm a bit scatter-brained at the minute," he scratched the back of his head as his expression turned to one of apology and stepped aside to let her in.

"It's alright. How is Shikashi? How are you? Keeping well?" she asked as she slipped of her sandals and made her way to the sitting room where Kakashi had previously been 'working'.

"He's fine; asleep. I know I don't have to say it to you but I will anyway, keep noise well down. He has my hearing and as much as it has been a blessing in the past for me, with him it's a curse. I'm tired but also doing alright. Wish I was going on another mission soon," he sat back down in his previous seat.

Hinata nodded, "I'd imagine so. I'm glad Aiko and Honoka were easy babies. Now, though, is a different story," she smiled with affection at mentioning her daughter and son.

Kakashi chuckled, "Yes. They have inherited Naruto's boisterousness. Luckily, they have your smarts and chakra control, otherwise the village may be in for worse pranks than what Naruto did when he was young."

"Hmm, yes. That would be quite…troublesome," she let out a soft laugh.

"Been hanging around Shikamaru much, lately?" Kakashi smirked as Hinata blushed faintly.

"A little. He needs some help with a mission and Neji nii-san is away on a five month tour of the boarder and Hanabi isn't experienced enough in the area he needs help with." Hinata was scanning all that Kakashi had planned so far.

Kakashi was lightly tracing his finger on the table, "Nii-san? I thought he had told you to stop referring to him as that. Also, I hope you didn't drag yourself away to help me when Shikamaru needs your help?"

Hinata paused and lowered the page to meet his eyes, "He did, I just ignored it. And no, I didn't. He's taking the day off. Ideally he really needs someone like Sakura. She was the best at what she did and that's exactly what he needs but considering she isn't around anymore and I spent five years in the same team and division as her, I'm the closest he's going to get. He can't ask you for obvious reasons and even if Neji wasn't touring he could only provide an outsiders insight; I'm the only decent candidate." She frowned but turned her attention back to the plan in her hand.

Kakashi stared at her but was lost in thought. What was Shikamaru working on? If it was ANBU related – which by the sounds of it, it was – then wouldn't a seasoned shinobi like Kakashi be the most ideal to get help from? And what were the obvious _reasons_? He couldn't think of any others apart from looking after his son.

"Kakashi? This is more like a birthday for adults…" Hinata spoke quietly, still reading over the plan.

The man didn't respond.

She put the page on the table, took another piece of paper and began anew. When she had finished, she handed it back to Kakashi who looked at it. He blinked, looked at her, back at the page, at her and blinked again, "This is it?"

Hinata almost laughed aloud at his bewildered and slightly incredulous tone, "Yes. Did you think you needed more?"

"…"

Hinata smirked, "You should know Ino doesn't do things in a small way. Especially celebrations of any kind,"

"Hn." Kakashi set the page down and looked at the dark-haired woman facing him, "I know. But you should also know I'm completely out of my element with these sort of things. I've never planned a birthday before and I always celebrate mine with a few friends and drinks. Besides, I'm still dubious about celebrating something which has been dubbed 'The Terrible Twos'." He scratched the back of his head again.

Hinata nodded before getting up and going upstairs. Kakashi didn't follow her. He knew she was going to see his son. She always did. A few minutes later she came back down with the toddler in her arms, still fast asleep.

"How in the hell did you manage that?"

"Manage what?"

"Picking him up without awakening him?"

"It's easy when you know how. Don't forget, I've been through this twice before," her reply was a slight nod, "If you want, I can take him back to the compound and send Hanabi and Naruto over to help you set up?" her answer was another nod and so without another word she donned her sandals and was out the door.

* * *

The birthday had gone down without a fuss. All of Sakura's and his friends had been there, well, the ones who were in the village that is. Shikashi had been laughing and gurgling away happily and then Hinata had opened the presents for him. When she showed him a picture of Sakura with a slight curve to her stomach and himself, Shikashi had stared before a bright smile lit up his face and clapped his hands before belting out a garbled "Mama!"

They had all been shocked into silence, unsure of whether they had heard him right but when he said it a second time cheers erupted around the room and he had been praised endlessly.

Kakashi was still in shock as he gazed down at his sleeping form. His hair was still baby pink and had grown quite a bit. He gently stroked his sons head and got a gurgle in response which made him smile. He had had quite a few doubts since he had taken him home from the hospital but now most of them were a thing of the past. And the rest, although not completely done away with, had diminished quite a bit.

_After all, if his first word was 'Mama' then that's bound to be a good omen. God, Sakura, we created a miracle and although you can't see him, I know you're watching over him. I know now, for sure, that he is going to be a great man when he's older and he'll do us both proud._

* * *

**And here it is. The first sequel to Shattered. Still having trouble writing the third chapter to Hope For The Hopeless but I shall get there...someday o.o**

**Reviews and such are greatly appreciated!**

**Hope you enjoyed it and thanks for reading!**

**Lady Sassy Sas xXx**


	3. III

**Disclaimer: **I, Lady Sassy Sas, do hereby disclaim all rights to the wonderful world that is Naruto.

* * *

Step, block, under, elbow, up and pivot, open-fisted punch to side, swivel, open-fisted punch to other side, two back-flips, crouch and throw.

"You're amazing, Hatake-san!" a member of the group shouted.

He got this kind of reaction _all_ the time and quite frankly? He was sick of it. Couldn't they just keep their fan worship to themselves? Of course not. They were girls and they did what girls did best; irritating the hell out of the male race by fangirling. He shook his head in irritation and despair. Apparently they would stop...but his father had never mentioned when and if he hadn't been around other women other than Aunt Ino he wouldn't have believed it to be true. She still seemed to obsess over that Uchiha Sasuke guy...and Genma...and countless others but he had long ago learned to ignore that.

Shikashi stuck out his hand for the other boy he had been sparring with to take hold off and helped pull him to his feet, "Good fight, Akio." He smiled.

"Yeah, you beat me. _Again_." Akio rubbed his jaw and held his right side while looking like a puppy who had been told off.

"Ah. Don't take it so hard; I'm sure you'll beat me sometime. If you want, I could help you? Or maybe even get my dad or Uncle Naruto to train you," Shikashi looked over at Iruka-sensei who was assessing the next pair.

He rubbed his pale pink hair and looked at the academy in thought. Both his dad and Uncle Naruto had said they would help him and anyone he thought needed it. The only thing was they were both extremely busy men. Kakashi was out on missions constantly and Naruto was in ANBU and so was away for weeks at a time and when he was home he was either with Hinata or training to be Hokage and any extra time he had inbetween those he gave to Shikashi. Shikashi was pretty sure neither of them would have the time and even if they did they'd be too tired to actually train properly.

"Alright everybody. Back inside! We're going to be going over a new technique for genjutsu!" Shikashi looked over at Iruka and frowned. He was the best at genjutsu in the class; he had yet to come across anything he couldn't do within one or two goes. Iruka looked up and caught Shikashi's eyes, giving him a soft smile and an apologetic shrug he headed toward the academy with the class.

_Well, at least I know mum would be proud. I love you, mum. Keep watching over me._

* * *

"Again! But this time lessen the flow of your chakra but keep the amount the same," Shikashi's face scrunched up in concentration and Naruto would have laughed if he hadn't known Shikashi was trying his utmost to accomplish this move.

He watched as Shikashi corrected his chakra and channelled it into the balloon filled with water. The water within started moving and contorting the balloon out of shape. Naruto smiled as he remembered when he had done this with Jiraiya. It had been one of the most frustrating times of his life but also one of the best. He missed Ero-sennin. There was a pop, a groan of frustration and then a thump. Naruto shook his head and brought himself back to the present where he saw his sensei's son slumped on the ground, hanging his head.

He couldn't understand it. He had done everything Uncle Naruto had told him and corrected everything he had been told to and he _still_ couldn't get the hang of it. Needless to say he was feeling rather under-accomplished but as his father had told him: he was only six years of age. And he knew his father didn't expect his son to be able to accomplish countless jutsu's right of the bat; there was no great need to.

But Shikashi felt like he needed to. He needed to be as great as his parents before him. His father was a prodigy and his mother had been one of the best chakra manipulators about. How could he not try and live up to their reputations?

"Shikashi, why not give it a rest. We can try again later," Naruto knelt beside him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

_And then there's Uncle Naruto. His generation is filled with shinobi who excelled in all areas. And then there's mine..._

Shikashi sighed and growled as he curled his hand into a fist and slammed it into the ground. Why couldn't he do it!?

"It's alright. It takes a long time to accomplish, and even then some never are successful. By the time I got it down, only my dad –the creator of the jutsu and the Yondaime; Jiraiya – one of the three Sannin, my dad's sensei, and the author of the Icha Icha series, and myself, could only do it. Your dad can make the sphere and all but he can't hold it for very long because he doesn't have a lot of chakra. Konohamaru can also use it but I think that's all who've been successful," Shikashi felt a hand under his chin and then looked up into the deep blue eyes of the ANBU operative, "Shikashi, you have it in you. I know it, your dad knows it and so does everyone else who knows you; your mother definitely knows it."

"...Kaa-san?"

"That's right. Sakura is watching over you all the time, Shikashi. She's extremely proud of you,"

"Uncle Naruto?"

"Hmm?" Naruto was staring at a Sakura tree off to the side of the field.

"..." Shikashi opened his mouth to speak but then closed it again after hesitating. He didn't know what to ask...or how.

Naruto glanced at him from the corner of his eye and smiled lightly as he saw the frown on his face and the distant look in his eye that told him he was thinking. Naruto didn't and wouldn't push the boy; asking about ones parents when they didn't know them was difficult and confusing at times.

"I know mum was one of the most intelligent in your year, and she was incredible with her chakra control and genjutsu but what was she really like?"..._not the right phrasing._

Naruto stared up at the sky and a contemplative look crossed his face, "You're going to have to be a little more specific, I'm afraid,"

Shikashi scrunched his face up as he tried to think of a way to phrase what he meant better, "What...was _she_ like?"

Naruto sighed wistfully as he thought how best to answer the young boy. There was so much he could say about his former team-mate/sister but where to start? Or how to start?

"Well, when she was 12 she was _very_ hot-tempered and volatile and completely obsessed over Sasuke. She was rivals with Ino –I still don't really understand it. She wasn't the most useful team-mate to have back then but none of us were. I wanted nothing more than to _be_ Sasuke and had an absolute crush on Sakura. Sakura _hated_ me and _worshipped_ Sasuke, and Sasuke?...Well, Sasuke can be left to another time – his story would take months to tell and a lot of things would have to be explained, some of which is classified; as you know." Shikashi nodded and Naruto took a breath, " Well, as I was saying, Sakura hated me and worshipped Sasuke and had this ...rivalry...thing going on with Ino. She was clueless about pretty much everything else and was totally annoying but then so was I. She kept on ranting about Sasuke and always wanting to be paired with him and how he was so cool and how he was the best at everything. This didn't really help when it came to the damn bell test your dad put us through; we barely passed."

Shikashi smiled faintly, imagining his mother acting like that.

Naruto inhaled deeply and exhaled before continuing, "Our first real mission was a challenge somewhat. I envied Sasuke to no end and was acting like a prat and he ended up saving my hide. After that, I fumed but came to respect him more. It wasn't until we fought Zabuza that he and I started to work together, Sakura was ordered to protect our client. Your father managed to beat him back and we safely got the old man back to his village. It wasn't until a gang of thugs who thought they owned the place showed up that we really worked together. Sasuke and I fought Haku and Sasuke was badly injured trying to protect me and your dad fought Zabuza and incapacitated his arms. "

"...Wait! This wouldn't be the guy who built that bridge in Water and named it after you, would it?" Shikashi stared up at the blonde with wide eyes.

"The very same! Hahaha, " Naruto scratched the back of his head in embarrassment, "It also helped all three of us understand just how important teamwork was and strengthened and –in some cases- changed them."

All was silent for a few minutes as Naruto let this sink in for the pink haired boy beside him; it was a lot to take in for a boy of seven.

"So, what about mum? What did she do?"

"She was ordered to protect the old man, again. She cried her heart out when she saw how badly hurt Sasuke was; I'll never forget that scream...anyway, she was still a cry-baby and pretty useless. She was the first to walk on water and up a tree out of the three of us, though. We came back here and soon after that the Chunnin exams happened. It was during the second part of this exam where she found her resolve and became a proper and serious shinobi. Sasuke and I were badly hurt and exhausted and out-for-the-count. She was protecting us. Sound-nin came and ambushed us, looking to take Sasuke away but your mother...she stood her ground against them and got beaten up pretty badly but from what I heard, she was amazing to watch.

"After that incident, it was the one-on-one matches and she got put up against Ino. That fight was interesting to watch as it showed the rivalry, determination, strength and wits they both carried with them. They surprised everyone by how fierce they were to win and how strong in their resolve to become shinobi they were. It was a spectacular match, that's for sure," Naruto smiled fondly as he remembered the match.

"Who won?"

"Neither. They both knocked each other out at the same time. They both lost. The only one to make Chunnin that year –out of Konoha- was Shikamaru."

"Why doesn't that surprise me?"Shikashi muttered sarcastically.

Naruto laughed. The wind blew through the field and ruffled their hair and blew cherry blossoms around the place. Naruto could almost feel his two team-mates there with them.

"Anyway, it wasn't until Sasuke left and I went to try and bring him back and failed that Sakura really grew up and became more like an adult. I went training with Jiraiya – although, it was more to keep me out of reach from the Akatsuki- and Sasuke was off in Sound with Orochimaru and Sakura was left by herself. Team 7 was disbanded for the time being. From what I heard, Kakashi was sent out on more missions and Sakura got up the courage and asked Tsunade baa-chan to train her.

"Two to three years later, I returned and Sakura had grown. It shocked me to see how much she had grown and when Tsunade told Sakura and I that we were going to prove just how much we had learned by fighting an old acquaintance, I was excited by the prospect of seeing how much and just what she had learned. We were up against our old sensei and Sakura shocked us both by her monstrous strength. Granted, at the time it was short of Tsunade's strength but Sakura _had_ grown in all ways. She was more patient and less volatile and harder to piss off. Not much harder, but...anyway, I still loved her but never really acted on it."

"Why not?"

"...I had grown. I wasn't that big of a pest anymore and had matured. Besides, she was still besotted with Sasuke."

"What age was she?"

"Sixteen. And she accomplished quite a lot at that age. She cured Gaara's brother and then proceeded to make an antidote for the poison he came into contact with. She went after one of the Akatsuki: Sasori of the Sand, and defeated him. It wasn't long after that that Kakashi was sent on missions and we gained two new team-mates...that was an interesting development. Sai and Yamato.

" Soon after that, I developed Futon: Rasen-Shuriken with Kakashi and Yamato's help...and Asuma's. After that Asuma-sensei was killed and Kakashi took Team Ten out to track down and help avenge Asuma's death, and after I achieved Rasen-shuriken Yamato, Sakura, Sai and myself took off after them. Sakura looked after me and helped me a bit after that occurrence as I hadn't exactly completed it fully yet and it damaged my arm as much as it destroyed Kakazu." Naruto stopped and looked Shikashi straight in the eyes with one of the most serious and heart-filled expressions the young boy had witnessed from the blonde man.

"Your mother, although easily angered, was one of the most caring people I ever knew, Shikashi. She had such a big heart and cared for all her friends and family and always put her own life in the way to protect the ones she loved. It was a long time before she realised she actually had feelings for your father as she was still trying to be at peace about Sasuke but when she did, she was devoted. They went through very hard times before you came along and they were ecstatic when they found out you were coming. You were and still are, their miracle, Shikashi. You won't ever know or understand how much until you have your own children; it's a cliché, I know but it's completely true. You're still too young to understand a lot of things but as you grow, you'll realise what the people of mine, your dad and the Godaime's generation are talking about."

They sat for a while after this, Naruto reminiscing about things in the past and Shikashi mulling over the things Naruto, his father and some other people had told him.

One thing was for sure: he wanted to live up to his mother for sure and make her as proud as he could.

* * *

His eyes were glued to the scene in front of him. He was absorbed with what was happening and was dying to ask questions but he and the rest of his class had been told to keep absolutely silent while the adults worked. The room glowed green as the medics worked over the injured body.

It was at times like this when he wished he had the Byakugan, then he could see how they used their chakra to heal the body and how much of it was used and on what. Oh, how he envied Aiko right now. They had only just started to learn a bit about healing and medic-nins but he had been eager to learn about them for a while. All the stories he had heard of his mother when she was on the field and healing all the shinobi in the Allied Shinobi War, had made his thirst for all knowledge in the medical profession, insatiable. Anything and everything he could learn, he absorbed like a sponge.

He watched as four of the medics moved away and out of the theatre as two others stayed and continued their work. Another four entered to cover the ones who had just left, among them were Tsunade-sama, Shizune and Aunt Ino. His eyes widened and he pressed his face right up against the glass, trying to get the best view as he possibly could.

"_Where have you gotten to?" _the Godaime's stern voice sounded through the silence of the theatre.

"_We've managed to stabilize his heart and breathing. The bleeding is under control and we have just fixed the tear in the stomach. We can't get control of the brain haemorrhaging and the poison is spreading too quickly and scattering sporadically that we can't extract it by normal means. Mina-san has gone to get the antidote prepared." _One of the other two medics informed the blonde pig-tailed medic as she prepped herself to help.

Tsunade nodded and joined the two medics already at the bed and soon green chakra pooled into her hands and she started to scan his body, "_Shizune, Ino. Try to stop the bleeding in the brain while I try my hand at this poison."_

Shikashi was completely absorbed.

* * *

"I want to be a medic-nin."

Kakashi slowly lowered the book from in front of his face to stare at his son. The black around his pupils had lightened to a steel-ish grey colour. They were unusual eyes but they suited him.

"What?"

"I want to be a medic-nin." The boy repeated, looking down at his father who had sprawled out on the couch. His face fell into an annoyed pout, "Aren't you supposed to be with baa-chan and Uncle Naruto in a meeting, right now?"

"Hmm, something like that," and with that the older man returned to reading the book. But he didn't get very far before it was forced down and he felt a slight weight as he felt Shikashi kneeling on his chest.

"Then why aren't you? And why are you re-reading this stupid book again? Aren't there any other books you like?"

Kakashi stared at his son with indifference as he rattled of his questions. For all the times his son acted the adult, he was still very much a child and had an insatiable thirst for knowledge on anything that caught his interest. He sometimes forgot that he was only seven. The only thing that reminded him of the boy's age –apart from irritating questions on everything and anything- was the amount of energy he had. He never tired.

"This book is special to me."

"Why?"

_Why, indeed..._"You're mother bought it for me the last birthday I had before she died. It's a very good book,"..._very, very good._

"Can I read it!?" Shikashi asked while bouncing slightly, causing his knees to dig into his father's chest.

"No," Kakashi sighed and put it down on the coffee table before sitting up and pulling his son onto his knees.

"Why not?" the boy's eyes bored into his own with such a questioning intensity.

_Shit..._Kakashi raced for an appropriate answer other than '_It's an adult book.' _Or something to the same extent. "Eh...well...you see..." _Crap._

His son sat patiently on his lap looking at him with a curious expression. And Kakashi was still scrambling to come up with a good explanation and failing miserably. _Sakura, where are you when I need you? You're son has put me in a difficult situation and I don't know how to deal with it..._

"It's about...deadly butterflies, scary stuff." he muttered the last part and scratched the back of his head, "Why do you want to become a medic-nin, then?"

Shikashi stared at his dad dubiously before his whole face lit up with excitement and he beamed, "We went to the hospital today for class and we got to see the medic-nins work on a critical case. I saw,

baa-chan, Shizune-nee and Ino working...it was amazing dad. Shizune and Ino managed to control the bleeding and baa-chan managed to extract most of the poison that none of the others could. It was amazing to watch. Baa-chan said that he was stable but not out of the woods yet." The young boy stared at his father's face and the animation left slightly, "Mum used to do that, didn't she? She used to be a medic-nin, right?"

All was silent while the boy waited for his dad to answer but Kakashi was absorbed with a memory of Sakura healing Naruto after he had fought with Muku on Tenrou Island. How she had cried out as she healed him and then how she realised that she didn't have enough experience or chakra to completely heal him. Of course, Tsunade had taken over and Sakura had gone to try and heal Ryuuzetsu but the girl was had given her life to Naruto.

"Dad?"

"Hmm? Yes, she was. One of the best there was, she was close to surpassing Tsunade and Shizune. She was in the top ranks of Medic-nins in the village. Her chakra control made her a perfect candidate for the job as well as her compassion to help. Chakra control that she passed on to you, Shikashi," Kakashi smiled fondly at him, "But _why_ do you want to become a medic-nin?"

Shikashi looked at him blankly, obviously not understanding the question, "Because I want to be like mum."

"Is that the only reason?"

"...no?"

Kakashi chuckled at his son. Shikashi was still young and had much to learn. He still didn't understand what it meant to be a shinobi of Konoha but he would someday. He would come to gain the Will of Fire and be one of the most talented shinobi in the ranks. But for now, he was a child and still learning the way of life and the way of shinobi and Kakashi would do everything to make sure he walked down his own path but also the right one.

Glancing at the clock he sighed and looked back down at the pink-haired child, "It's about time I go to this meeting. Shikashi, you don't understand yet, but you will. If you really want to become a medic-nin when you're older, then we'll discuss it in a bit more detail, then, alright?"

Shikashi nodded his head vigorously, "Yes!"

Kakashi smiled and ruffled his head before standing up, "Want to come with me to the meeting?" and as Shikashi nodded his head again, Kakashi picked him up and put him on his shoulders, thanking the Kami that he had deflected –

"Dad? What is that book _really _about?"

..._Damn._

* * *

Shikashi was now a chuunin along with Aiko and Akio. They were Team 9 and had Akamichi Chouji for their sensei. And they were on a mission to the Hidden Village of Cloud, in the land of Lightening. It was a B-rank mission but that was only due to the scroll they had to deliver. Akio kept complaining how boring the mission was and how much he wanted to fight. Aiko kept quiet but she was observing everything around her and listening for the slightest change out of the norm. Chouji-sensei was explaining how he, Ino and Shikamaru had fought in the Allied Shinobi War in the land of Lightening and Shikashi?

Shikashi was going through the main parts of the body and how they were affected by certain jutsu's and how to reverse the effects – if you could. He knew you had to wait for the chakra pathways to open up again after an attack of Hinata and Neji's gentle-fist technique; he had experienced this first hand from Aiko.

He knew in order to break a relatively simple genjutsu you had to surge chakra, make the hand-sign and say 'Kai'; that or someone had to force their own chakra into you to break it. Some of the more complicated genjutsu's were hard to dispel and some, you had to wait for it to dissipate by itself.

He also knew that ninjutsu could have major physical and mental effects depending on what was used. He knew his father's Chidori could kill, he had seen it. He also knew it could paralyse and sometimes it was useless, depending on the opponent of course. It also required a lot of concentrated chakra in one area and you had to be able to move at an incredible speed for it to work to your advantage.

He knew how to heal the most basic wounds and was working on how to extract poison from a body but that was very tricky and he tired very quickly every time he tried. Of course, Tsunade and Shizune were teaching him and when they couldn't, Ino or Mina took over but he was desperate to learn from his mother; he couldn't and he knew it but it was frustrating. There was so much he wanted to ask her, so much he wanted to show her and discover new ways to heal and develop new antidotes.

"Chouji-sensei?"

The man turned to face him, "Yes, Shikashi?"

"How does your clan transform into giants? Does it have any adverse affects on your body or does your body just adapt naturally to the change?" he jogged to catch up to his sensei to walk beside him. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Aiko turn her head slightly so she could listen in and continue to ignore Akio's prattling.

"Mmm," Chouji squinted at the sky and pursed his lips in thought. He had never really thought about it, "I'm not sure how we transform, exactly but we need the help of pills for some of the transformations. There are no bad effects that I'm aware of; body just naturally adapts."

"Is that why you eat a lot?" Shikashi questioned.

"Yes," came the clipped reply and Shikashi was about to ask why when he saw something shiny racing towards him out of the corner of his eye. He was knocked over before he could have a chance to react to the flying kunai and heard metal clang as his sensei deflected it with his own kunai in hand, "Battle formation!"

And like that, Shikashi, Aiko and Akio were in their battle formation. Akio went through a rapid series of seals and then released his ninjutsu. The earth groaned and then it shattered all around the enemy. While they were caught off guard, Aiko went in and used her Gentle Fist technique to disable their chakra pathways. Then Shikashi casted one of his stronger genjutsu's on them. The fight was over before it had even begun.

"Good job guys. Your formation timing is getting better and better." Chouji made his way over to the ambushers. He knelt down beside one of them and grunted, "Rogue ninja." He removed all of their weapons before binding their hands behind their back and covering their eyes, "We'll be taking them with us to Cloud. The Raikage can deal with them,"

**. . .**

"Raikage will see you now," Samui led them to the spacious office of the Raikage, bowed, collected papers from his desk and said something to him before leaving.

The burly man glared at them for a while before speaking, "So, Tsunade has decided to respond and she sent a team of gennin to deliver the document containing her answer. Pitiful," he snorted.

"Raikage-sama, she has indeed sent my team with her reply but she has also sent a request pertaining to a certain incident involving Konoha and half of the Cloud nins against a mutual foe twelve years ago," Chouji bowed respectfully and held his hand out for the scrolls that Aiko carried. She passed them to her sensei who then set them down on the desk in front of the Kage of Cloud.

The Raikage sat with his fingers interlaced and his chin propped up on them. He stared at the scrolls for a few seconds before opening them and reading them. Team Ten stood in respectful silence as the powerful man read their Kage's reply and request.

"Hrrgh," there was a loud banging sound as the Raikage slammed his hand down on his desk, "Samui!"

"Hai, Raikage-sama?" she was by his side in an instant, ready to answer his beck and call.

"Take this to the Daimyo. This..." he eyed the request of Tsunade and twirled it around the desk with his finger as he thought about his answer, "Take this to the head of our archives. I shall decide what my answer will be later."

"Hai, Raikage-sama!" and just as quickly as she came, Samui left.

"That incident twelve years ago...we still don't know how it exactly started or why. In fact, I was under the impression that we weren't going to investigate it because it was too risky for both countries, so, why is Tsunade asking for information now?"

Chouji bowed his head and shifted a bit, "She's looking into the death of a shinobi who shouldn't have been out in the field. That shinobi died and she's investigating as to how and why she was out there. She's only got some information from Cloud's part in it and would like some gaps that could potentially help with the investigation, filled. In return, she has agreed to give you any information on the battle should you wish to look into anything,"

Shikashi looked back and forth between the men as they continued to discuss the situation. It peaked his interest. What battle had occurred at the time of his birth? Had his parents fought in it? Was it big? What had happened? Had his mother been healing the injured shinobi? Had they been away on a mission at the time? Had it been before he was born? Or during or after?

_I wonder if dad would tell me if I asked him about it?_

He thought about it while they travelled home. It was an uneventful trip except for him having to heal Akio when he tripped over his own feet and scraped his arm with the kunai he had been fiddling with. _How can a shinobi be so clumsy?_

* * *

"Your natural affinity is earth,"

"Is that good?"

"It's not bad but I won't be able to teach you any jutsu's to do with it. I have an affinity to air. You're dad could probably help considering his Sharingan and summons but his natural affinity is lightning."

A sigh, "Then who has an affinity for earth jutsu's?"

"Hmm...Yamato-taichou definitely has it...who else...?"

The young boy sighed and fell to the ground on his bum. He had been looking forward to finding what element he had a natural affinity for but now he was despairing. What use was an element affinity if there was nobody who could teach you how to use it!? Honestly, for all the hype that surrounded him, Naruto wasn't very intelligent. He had his moments and when he really put his mind and heart to something, he was brilliant but on normal days? It was like talking to a five year old at times.

He stared at the blonde man and scowled. He was annoyed and very irritable today. He knew and he was trying his best not to take it out on the people around him but it was hard. He had tried to ask his dad about the war that he had heard Chouji-sensei and the Raikage talk about but his father just told him he'd find out later. Which pretty much translated into: never. His scowl deepened and he growled a bit. His dad could be very infuriating; he wondered how everyone put up with him.

"Shi, what's bothering you so much? You've been tense all day and you haven't stopped scowling since I collected you from the tower." Naruto lowered himself down beside Shikashi.

They were in the park. Shikashi had originally wanted to go to the training fields but Naruto had said that they weren't going to be doing any training today; just learning what affinity Shikashi had and how that would work to his advantage and how to best utilize it. They had only got to the 'Finding-what-affinity-he-had' bit.

He didn't know if he wanted to talk about what was bothering him. He knew he could trust Naruto not to tell anyone of any of the conversations they had but at the same time, Naruto was the only one who really opened up about his mother and told him about her. Tsunade, Shizune, Ino, Genma, Shikamaru, Hinata, his dad...they answered some of his questions and then most other times they gave him very vague ones that were useless. He needed to know more but he didn't want to keep badgering Naruto about it.

"Shikashi?"

"It doesn't matter. Forget about it. Are we finished?" Shikashi made to move but a hand on his arm made him stop.

"No, we're not," And with that, Naruto yanked him back down beside him, "What's bothering you, Shikashi?"

"..."

"We won't be leaving here until you tell me." Naruto said in a serious voice.

Shikashi scowled then frowned. He really didn't want to talk about it...at least not with Naruto but if not with him then who? Naruto shifter beside him but didn't speak.

Shikashi inhaled, "I- I asked dad about the battle that happened the year I was born..."

He heard Naruto exhale quickly and loudly and swivelled his head around to see his face. Shock, pain, anger and confusion were etched on his features. He had never seen the blonde so tense and negatively emotional before. It was...weird and worrying.

"What did you ask him?" Naruto asked tightly albeit calmly.

"I just asked what it was about and what happened...if mum was in it," Shikashi replied in a small voice.

"What did he say?"

"He told me that I'd find out when I was older. Which means never."

There was a pregnant silence and the sun blazed from above. It was the hot season and Konoha was boiling. There was no relief in or outside. A lot of people who came to Konoha for a trip or business purposes ended up in hospital with heat-stroke. Only those from Sunagakure or anywhere in the Land of Wind could stand the heat.

Naruto leaned back on his hands and studied the clouds in the skies, "Your dad probably wasn't the best person to ask about that particular battle. A lot happened in it and I think it's affected him nearly as badly as the Third Shinobi War...perhaps more so." He looked at the boy from the corner of his eye and saw him open his mouth to ask a question or comment on something but shut it again and furrow his brow, "You've got to understand that your dad is a very complicated man who has been through the wringer multiple times. He's damaged to a certain extent. Your mother helped him a lot, Shikashi, she was great with and for him. He helped her through hard times as well but she was what kept him together and kept him fighting. When she died...he shattered into more pieces than anyone could count.

"But, he pulled through. He's still shattered but not as much as he was then and he's still picking up the pieces and taking them to the place where they belong. Because of you, Shikashi. You're his light. Sakura was his sun but you're his light. And while you're still here, he'll keep fighting and mending."

Shikashi took this in and put it away to analyse later but now.."But what happened in that battle? Who or what started it? Why has it affected everyone so badly? Who was the shinobi, who wasn't meant to be in it, that got killed? Why is baa-chan investigating it? Were they close to her? Were they important?"

Naruto sighed and stood up. He held a hand out to Shikashi, who took it, and pulled him up. Then he put a hand on his shoulder and started to push him gently towards the exit.

"Where are we going?"

"Somewhere private and secluded."

"Why?" Shikashi stumbled.

"Because, what we're talking about is not for people to become nosey about. It's highly sensitive and classified,"

They spent the rest of the time walking in silence through the village until they reached their destination.

"The Intelligence and Encryption Corps?" but Naruto just continued to guide him in through the door and through many corridors before they came to a room. He raised a hand and knocked on the door. There was shuffling, a bang and a couple of curses. Another two minutes before the door opened and Shikamaru appeared with Temari standing behind him, both looking dishevelled.

"Naruto? What're yo- Shikashi?" Shikamaru looked confused as he looked back and forth between the pair, "What are you doing here?"

"Temari, could you excuse us, please?" Naruto ignored Shikamaru as he pushed passed the couple and walked into the office before and crossing to a particular filing cabinet. Shikashi stood in the centre, feeling highly out of place, eyes darting around the room constantly and fast.

"Fine. I better see you after this is over, Nara. I won't be here much longer," and with that, Temari turned on her heel and proceeded through the door. Shikamaru closed it and turned to face the other two males in the room. He saw where Naruto was and his eyes narrowed, "Naruto, what are you doing? You know you're only allowed to access that cabinet if-"

"I know, Shikamaru but I'm ignoring that protocol for now."

"What's going on?"

"It's time we let her son know a bit of what's going on and what happened. Why she was there and why what happened, did. Why she died and who killed her. Shikamaru, it's time to start telling Shikashi about his mother, properly."

Shikamaru looked at the boy standing awkwardly in the middle of the room looking around in confusion. He looked like her too much. He still remembered that five month old baby who had been delivered in the middle of a hostile area, in the middle of a forest. He still remembered Sakura and how bad she had been; how she had told him what to name her son. How she had entrusted him to help keep her baby safe. He would never ever forget.

He sighed, "This is going to be troublesome. I just know it is."

Crossing over to where Naruto stood he opened the cabinet and gestured for Naruto to go to the desk at the side of the room. He rummaged through one drawer then another. He came to the table carrying three folders filled with scrolls and various other things with him and set them down on the table before sitting opposite the boy and the ANBU operative.

"Where are we starting? And how much detail?"

Naruto furrowed his brow as he thought. Finally, he sat forward, "The beginning but only answer the necessary bits. We're not going into a great amount of detail for now. We'll go further as he becomes older but I also need to speak with Kakashi. He's got to be informed of what we're telling him so he can choose whether or not to answer any other questions that arise,"

Shikamaru nodded and opened the top folder and sifted through some scrolls before pulling out one from near the bottom and showing it to Naruto, "I think here would be best to begin, ne?"

Naruto nodded and shrugged, "How long do you have?

Shikamaru looked at the clock for a few moments, "I think an hour will do for today."

"Hn. Right, well, you begin."

"Troublesome," the dark haired man shook his head before looking at Kakashi's son, who was thoroughly confused as to what was going on, "Shikashi...what do you know about that battle?"

The boy shrank back against his chair. He didn't like this place or environment. It was too dark and enclosed. He wanted his dad.

"It's alright, Shikashi." Naruto put a hand on his shoulder, "You wanted to know about the battle, right? Wanted to know about your mum?" his answer was a hesitant nod, "Well, that's why we're here. I can't answer those questions directly because I wasn't at that battle. Shikamaru was. He has the answers you're looking for. Not all of them, but a lot of them. And it can only be discussed here,"

Shikashi nodded again and looked at Naruto before turning his gaze to Shikamaru, "I- I don't know much. Just that it happened in the year of my birth and that nobody will talk about it or answer any of the questions I ask. Especially my dad..."

Shikamaru bowed his head in acknowledgement and closed his eyes. He knew Kakashi would be the last person to talk about what had happened. It went to deep and it was still too fresh for him...for all of them. He still didn't feel like talking about it but he knew why he had to and why Naruto had brought him here. And he agreed with the blonde. Shikashi was old enough to start learning what had happened on that field and start to understand why certain people weren't open to him asking questions.

"Shikashi, first, you must understand that what's said in this room mustn't leave. You must not talk to _anyone_ about it outside of here or in another very secure area and with the people who are entitled to talk about it." Shikamaru gave him a stern look. Shikashi nodded, "Do you understand, Shikashi?"

"Y-yes."

"Good. Secondly, Naruto and I are committing borderline treason here. Technically, we aren't allowed to talk about this at all without verbal and written consent from the Hokage herself, the elders and Head of ANBU...and we're supposed to have parental consent but that one doesn't really apply. So, again. No. Mention. Of. This. To. Anyone. Outside. Of. This. Room."

Shikashi shook a little, "Yes, sir."

"Good. Right, I'm going to start from the very beginning so you understand a little of what went on before all hell broke loose, alright?" the boy nodded, "Naruto?"

Naruto nodded and went to the door and flew through some hand-seals before pressing his palm against the door and muttering something. He turned back and nodded at Shikamaru before returning to his seat.

Shikamaru sighed and looked down at the scroll in his hand and frowned. He knew the information by heart but he felt better when he had the scrolls in his hand, "Alright. Sakura –your mother- was sent out on a mission a year before the battle occurred. Tsunade had sent her to collect some information that was important and very much related to the research they were working on for a new medical technique to use in the field. Once she had the information, she was to return to the village straight away," he took a breath, "But something happened that impeded her. It took her two months to return from what was supposed to be a one week mission,"

Shikashi leaned forward listening to Shikamaru intently.

"When she returned there was a bit of an uproar. She was injured quite badly. After she got initial treatment she went to Tsunade to give her the information she had collected and to explain what had her returning so late. Something was said between them because they didn't speak to each other for weeks after that meeting," Shikamaru rested his head in his hands, while Naruto nodded absently remembering the incident.

"From what I remember and heard, she never told Kakashi what happened to her. I don't know if that was because Tsunade ordered her not to or because she didn't want to tell him but he wasn't best pleased by it," Naruto added.

"Hn, troublesome." he agreed, "Anyhow, it was a while before she and the Godaime were on talking terms again. There was still tension between them but no hostility. They continued their research and came up with the technique they had been working on. Sakura was the first to use it on the field when she went out with her ANBU team. It went well but not to her satisfaction and it became clear it wasn't to Tsunade's either so they went back to researching it and trying to improve it."

"What was the technique?" Shikashi asked, his eyes bright with interest and curiosity.

"I can't tell you that,"

"Why not?"

"Because, you are too young, yet, to be allowed to know,"

Shikashi was about to protest when Naruto held out a hand and shook his head, telling him to keep quiet, "Quiet Shikashi or we're going to have to leave and you won't find out more until you're at least eighteen,"

Shikashi pouted but remained silent.

"They corrected the jutsu and had it perfected about five months before the battle emerged. It was taught to all ANBU field medics and a select few within the hospital. Sakura was sent out on another mission but with her ANBU team this time round. They headed to Sunagakure and spent two weeks there so Sakura could train a select few of their medics this new medic jutsu. Your mother was very talented in what she did, Shikashi and she had a knack for teaching medics different techniques and how to make antidotes. Thanks to Naruto and Gaara, Konoha and the Hidden Village of Sand are great allies and will hopefully remain that way for a very long time.

"Tsunade had got confirmation that her team had arrived safely. When two weeks had passed and Gaara informed her that Sakura and her team had left the village and were heading back to Konoha, she was relieved and was awaiting the arrival of her team. Again, Sakura came home two weeks later than planned and without the other members of her team. Again, she was injured but worse than the last time."

"I don't think I've ever seen anyone so beaten other than the time Lee went up against Gaara. The image still haunts me to this day..." Naruto whispered.

Shikashi's eyes widened and moisture gathered in them. He imagined his mother, with her pink hair and vibrant eyes, beaten and bloody. He shivered and closed his eyes and inhaled deeply to calm himself.

"Do you want me to continue?" Shikamaru asked him gently.

When the young boy nodded, he continued, "We still don't know how she ended up in that state. She never told anybody what happened. Not Tsunade, Shizune, Ino, Naruto, myself or your father. We're still trying to figure out what happened. Her team completely disappeared without a trace and anytime we tried to ask her about it, she freaked out and closed herself off completely to everyone."

Shikamaru watched Sakura's son closely and saw how horrified he was already. Although he had never met her, he had seen pictures of her and Shikamaru knew he was imagining the scene of his mother badly injured in his head. He cleared his throat to gain Naruto's attention and then tilted his head in the boy's direction. Naruto followed his movement and saw how close to tears Shikashi was. He met Shikamaru's gaze and nodded.

"I think that's enough for today. Kakashi will be back from his mission soon and I'm sure he'll be wanting to see his son. Want to come back to mine while we wait for him?" Naruto crouched in front of his sensei's son and looked at him with heart-felt sympathy.

Shikashi looked at the blurred blob that was Naruto and nodded but not before a whine escaped his lips and then the tears flowed and he flung himself at his uncle and clung to him for all he was worth.

Naruto held him tightly while Shikamaru put the documents back where they belonged and came and leant against the desk while he watched Shikashi cry his heart out on Naruto's shoulder. He felt the numbing pain spread through him again as he recalled the moment Sakura had held her son and died with him in her arms while her husband held them both and wept. It was something he knew he would never forget.

"Shikashi?" Naruto asked gently and pulled the boy back a bit so he could look at him properly, "Your mother is safe now. She's resting peacefully and she's not in pain. You were and still are her pride and joy. You should have seen the joy in her eyes when she held you after you were born. Nobody can hurt her now, okay?"

It was three minutes before Shikashi calmed down enough to nod and wipe away his tears and nose.

"Come on, we'll go and get dinner."

"Can we get tempura!?" Shikashi instantly brightened at the idea of having tempura and Naruto couldn't ignore the hope emanating from him.

"Sure. You coming, Shika?"

"Nah. I promised my mother that I'd be over for dinner tonight, and I have to bring Ino and Chouji too. Troublesome, woman."

"Haha, okay. Say hi to them for me! Ja ne," And Naruto sauntered out the door with Shikashi by his side.

Shikamaru stared at the open door while he contemplated all that had been discussed from when Naruto had arrived. Shikashi was a lot like Sakura in appearance. But the rest of him was pretty evenly split between Sakura and Kakashi. They had both passed their chakra control onto him, he had both their intelligence. He got his speed and stamina from his father. He definitely got his compassion and social skills from Sakura as well as his temper. He had the stubborn streak in double from both of them.

He heard the rapid stamping of feet and a few seconds later, Shikashi appeared again. While he panted, Shikamaru raised an eyebrow in question.

"..I...have...one...more...question," Shikashi managed to get out in between pants.

"Just one?" Shikamaru asked sarcastically.

Shikashi looked at him in confusion for a second before shaking his head and straightening up, "Have all the missions my dad's been on been related to this case?"

"...Most."

"Okay. Do you know why she was out there?"

"No."

This time Shikashi looked the dark-haired genius in the eyes, "Do you know who killed her?"

"Yes."

A glint entered the young boy's eyes as he asked the next question.

"Who?"

* * *

**And here it is. The second sequel to Shattered. Phew. That took longer than I had anticipated. I could have made it longer but I think it's long enough...and I wanted to be evil and end it on a cliff-hanger XD *cackles evilly* **

**I know Shikashi's personality jumped around a bit in this but it's how he is. He has Kakashi's laid back persona but also Sakura's naivety along with the intelligence from both so I figured this is how he would and if you disagree? Go give off to somebody who actually cares. My story, my character, my choice.**

**Also, I know all of the original characters probably seem very OOC but! I think they would have all grown up to be quite serious, especially after the way this current war is going on...**

**I also apologise if I've spewed a lot of crap when Naruto was explaining to Shikashi what Sakura was like. I didn't have internet connection while I was writing it and I cba to go and look everything up so don't give off if things are wrong. I may come back and change it in the future if I care that much but I very much doubt I will.**

**Anywho...**

**Reviews and such are greatly appreciated!**

**Hope you enjoyed it and thanks for reading!**

**Lady Sassy Sas xXx**


	4. IV

**Disclaimer: **I, Lady Sassy Sas, do hereby disclaim all rights to the wonderful world that is Naruto.

* * *

"You're staring again,"

"I'm not!" came a hissed reply.

"You totally are."

"Am not!"

"You are."

"I'm not!" this time it was a screech of indignation.

"Well, you've just gone and given us away. And _you_ were the one who told me not to make a sound," the first voice retorted.

A huffing noise sounded, "And yet, you did,"

"...Touché,"

All was silent as they turned back to what had their attention in the first place.

"But just look at the form. It's flawless!" came a breathless exclamation.

The other voice made no comment.

A sigh sounded and then some shuffling, "Come on, we've been here a while. We need to get moving otherwise they'll have our hides."

"Awww!" the second voice whined, "But the good part is just about to begin!"

"I'm leaving without you,"

A snort came, "'Course you are," came the sarcastic reply before muttering, "They'll have your ass if you leave me behind, not mine. After all, _I'm_ being thorough with this," the last bit came out louder.

About forty seconds of silence then, "Heeeey! Wait up, teme!" A lot of scuffling, a wisp of cold air and then silence thereafter.

* * *

He made his way through the corridors that lay deep beneath the village. He'd lost track of how many times he had made this trip but this time he actually cared about what his destination meant. He felt a swell of pride as he thought and he sped up.

"Are my eyes deceiving me or are you actually on time?"

"Shut up, Shiranui,"

Together, Kakashi and Genma entered the large conference chamber that was on this level of ANBU headquarters. They were in the ANBU get-up and had their masks in place as they entered. They each scanned the room quickly and made their way to the front and stood in a line with the rest of the Elite ANBU that were behind and off to the side and behind Ibiki.

Then the doors opened again and in strode two blondes. One was short, big-breasted and had pigtails. The other was quite tall and held himself with confidence and purpose and had short, spikey hair.

The latter was in ANBU garb. The other, of course, wore her usual outfit only this time it included the formal hat that went with her title. They strode down the centre of tiered seating and desks to the front where she nodded at Ibiki who nodded back then proceeded to stand to his right and behind him while the other blonde stood to the left and behind. He clasped his hands behind his back and his legs slightly apart.

"Right you pansies! Granny meeting ends now. It's time for your superiors to take the stage." Ibiki called out. A few chuckles emanated from around the room but they went as quickly as they came.

Ibiki strode forward and stopped in the centre of the room, "We're here to accept the babies who got into ANBU and then partner them with some of the older, experienced elites. They will stay with that person for two years before being formed into an Elite group or, if they so choose, to go solo or stay behind the lines. If they don't meet the expectations of their partner, they will be kicked out and then allowed to try again after three years – more, depending on the circumstances."

Kakashi's eyes kept darting around the room. He knew there would be discussion about these rules if talking were allowed. He had no doubt that Shikashi would be fine. He was more worried about whom his partner would be. It wasn't going to be himself as family were prohibited from working on the same team for obvious reasons. He wouldn't mind a whole lot if Genma became his mentor. For all the gossip about the playboy there was no doubt that he took his job seriously. He seemed harmless and happy-go-lucky but Kakashi knew of all the trouble he got into as a kid.

Nobody took Genma seriously and it always worked to his advantage whether out in the field or in a pub. It was exactly what Genma wanted people to think of him.

"This year's bunch seems promising but they always do. These next two years are crucial to see who will actually stick it out and who will cower under pressure and run scared at the first sight of imminent death while fighting; who has the courage to complete...less than...questionable tasks and who can get in and extract information from any circumstance while not leaving a trace of evidence. And who will take less than savoury...and not your run-of-the-mill...requests."

"In other words: Illegal. Looks like it's back to good old fashioned assassinations," Genma said under his breath, just loud enough for Kakashi to hear.

Kakashi gave the barest of nods and saw Naruto's back straightening and his head slightly cocked and turned towards them. _He heard. Still amazes me how sensitive he is thanks to the Kyuubi._

"The new recruits will come up when called and be handed their Tanto and Mask and give their code-name to myself, the Hokage and the Second-In-Command. They will also be told who their two-year partner and mentor will be," Ibiki looked around the room with a stern expression then nodded and pivoted sideways and nodded to the Hokage.

Tsunade stepped up beside him and looked around the room slowly, letting her eyes fall upon all the new recruits sitting in the tiers. She noted, with interest, that there were more this year than there had been in the previous five. _Good._

"First and foremost: Congratulations. You have tried and passed the requirements and have made it into the probationary period of become a full-fledged elite. The next two years, as your commander said, will test you and put you through trying times. Should you cope and come out a full-time ANBU operative, you know you will serve your country well and be an elite or you will have time to see if it does not suit you for various and personal reasons.

"Now. You will serve your country and Kage in various ways that you wouldn't and won't do as an ordinary Shinobi. You _can_ turn down some requests but for the majority, you'll be doing them with no questions asked. If you disagree with this: tough shit. You may as well turn around and leave now. As ANBU you are giving up a majority of your free-will to receive and take missions. You will be doing the jobs nobody else wants to do. They could put yours and your comrades' life in peril and if you get caught doing an illegal job, you're left on your own. We will disown you for the sake and integrity of our village and reputation; unless it's for an extremely unusual circumstance." The blonde woman stopped pacing and turned to face the tiers and crossed her arms, "Without further ado, come and get your masks and tanto's and do well in the profession. Your life changes hereafter; for better or worse is up to you."

And then the recruits were called up one after another by Ibiki and presented their masks and tanto's by Tsunade and gave their code-name to Naruto. Shikashi was halfway down the line and Kakashi's eyes lit with pride as he watched as his son was handed his mask – a wolf – and tanto. Naruto's daughter, Aiko was also among the recruits as well as their other team-mate Akio. It took half an hour to get through all the recruits.

"Now, each of you will come to either myself, Lady Hokage or Operative Kitsune-ko ((Fox prince)) and we shall give you the name of the operative you shall be working with,"

Murmurs did fill the room this time as the recruits started to form three lines. Kakashi noted Shikashi was in Ibiki's line and saw the jerk when he was told whom his partner was. He stayed there a little longer as some sort of discussion was carried out and then became curious as Naruto was called over. Another minute went by before the blonde went back to giving out names of partners to the recruits. Shikashi hesitated and asked another question to which Ibiki went and addressed Tsunade before returning and giving him a curt nod.

"I wonder who he got," Genma mused.

"Naruto." Kakashi replied without emotion before striding over to his son and clapping him on the back, "So proud of you, son."

Shikashi turned around in surprise before smiling, "Thanks dad. But I couldn't have done it without your help and everybody else's and...mums,"

Kakashi jerked in surprise before turning his eyes to meet those of his son's, "Your mum?"

"Hai," Shikashi smiled and spoke softly, "Mum helped a lot,"

"Hn." The silver-haired man didn't question any further. He didn't doubt that Sakura had helped their son in some way, "Well, we should go celebrate. Where do you feel like going?"

"I know the perfect place,"

"Oh? And where would that be?"

"With mother,"

* * *

He gazed at the cenotaph where her name was also chiselled into the marble. Two places: here and on her own grave stone. He wasn't sure if he liked it or not. In one way it seemed to be throwing it in his face every time he visited but it was also respectful. She probably would have named something in the hospital after her too but even Tsunade knew Sakura would have come back to haunt her if she had; it was never Sakura's style.

It was the anniversary of her death; his son's birthday. It was and always had been a bittersweet day.

"Sakura..." he was standing in his usual slouch with his hands in his pockets as the mizzle continued to fall, his droopy eye darting from Minato, Rin, Obito and Sakura's names' in quick succession.

He would always feel responsible for her death even though he knew it wasn't his fault. Unlike Obito and Rin. Those were and forever would be his fault. He had so many bad memories and past events that it was incredibly hard to carry on at times. There were days were felt like hanging his head and drowning his sorrow; no more tomorrow's to live for.

But he wouldn't follow his father's footsteps. He still had unfinished business to tend to and his son to live for. He would not die by his own hand and leave Shikashi to fend for himself even if he was old enough to look after himself and there were plenty of people to help him. His eyes travelled up to the name of his father. He felt a surge of pride. He had much more to tell him but he was glad that he had told him that he was proud of him when he had died during the Pein invasion.

"I-...I'm sorry. I have much to tell all of you; that time will come eventually but for now I will say I'm glad that I got to fight alongside each of you. That I had you for my father. That you were my sensei and mentor and adoptive father. Obito, I hated you for being late all the time and not following the rules. I was such an arrogant stuck up prat back then. But now, I appreciate all that you did...and unlike me, you're excuses for being late were legit. I'm sorry for not protecting Rin."

He took a deep breath before continuing, "Rin...I'll explain my actions to you when I'm with you, I swear. To everyone. I'll explain to you why I did what I did."

He stopped and brooded in silence for five minutes before he sighed and took his hand out and traced his wife's name with the tips of his fingers. There wasn't a lot he could say to her, not much to tell her, it was painful to talk about what happened to her and he had already kept her updated on Shikashi. And he was pretty sure Shikashi had been telling her as well. So he said the only thing he could always say.

"Sakura...I love you,"

* * *

"Are you sure about this?"

"Are you questioning my decision!?"

"I would never do that. It's more like..."

"Like what?"

"...Anyway, he hasn't even gone on many missions, yet. Isn't it a little early to be bringing him on this fully?"

"He's more than mature enough and I haven't seen or heard anything that would jeopardize the project by bringing him in. Hell, he may even find something that we've overlooked!"

"Unlikely."

"Even so, my decision is made. Once he's back from the boarder he'll be fully inducted into the case."

"Hai, Hokage-sama," the shinobi bowed respectfully before turning and striding out the door.

"Are you sure it's wise to bring him in on this?" the brunette assistant asked softly from behind the chair the blonde sat on.

"Taking your boyfriend's side, Shizune?"

"N-no, Tsunade-sama. I know Shikashi is level-headed and extremely intelligent but...he does have Sakura's hot-headedness."

There was a small pause and the tap of a ceramic cup being set on the desk, "That's true,"

"You didn't think about that, did you?"

"I was distracted when I was making the decision."

Shizune sighed, "And by distracted you mean drunk. Really, you need to lay off on the Saké, Tsunade-sama, what would Sakura say if she were here?"

"Hah!" Tsunade let out a very un-lady like snort, "She'd be drinking with me, not trying to take it off me,"

The brunette had no comeback to this statement because it was true. Sakura was always more inclined to join Tsunade in drinking and gambling than she was to oppose it. In truth Shizune missed the drunken escapades of the two women. Sakura was the only other person other than Jiraiya who could rival Tsunade in drinking.

"Do you think about her, Shizune?"

"All the time, Tsunade-sama,"

"As do I, Shizune. As do I," and with that, Tsunade downed was left in the cup and brought out three more bottles of Sake and proceeded to glug it down.

* * *

"Ko?"

A slight turn of the head was all the confirmation he got that his partner was listening.

"Did I do alright back the-"

"Not another word." And with that, his partner sped on.

Agent Ookami Yaiba (Wolf Blade) was half a second behind his fellow operative but he was still thinking about the mission. Something just wasn't sitting right for him. He kept repeating everything they had done over and over and over and over and he still couldn't fathom what was out of place. They had done everything down to the T. So what was it?

They were about two hours from the boarder of Konoha when he came to a sudden stop. He crouched on the branch and scanned the area quickly before bringing his hand to form a seal. He then leapt forward and knocked the other agent out of the branches before quickly reaching out with one arm and extending his chakra to pull him and his mentor to the trunk. They rapidly slid 15 feet before coming to a jarring stop.

"Wh-"

"Shut up." Shikashi barely whispered with a hurried urgency.

He untangled himself and scanned the area using his acute hearing to listen out for anything, "Hear that?"

The blonde nodded, "Yep. Nothing." The blonde discreetly summoned his senju chakra so he could sense everything around them.

"Don't!" the young man hastily warned while grabbing the agent's forearm, "You can't use senju mode! It takes too long and puts you in danger."

"It doesn't take me as long as it used to and I'm counting on you to protect me from any attacks," Naruto argued.

"And I will; from _physical_ attacks. I can't protect you from genjutsu. I may have my mother's affinity to spot one when it's used but by then it could be too late for you. You're the most susceptible person I know to genjutsu's. I only just noticed it was a genjutsu is because we suddenly leapt from being six hours from the boarder to two," He paused to catch his breath and to take another sweep around them, "I think we should head back as quickly as we can and as undetected as we can make ourselves. I have a feeling we're seriously outnumbered and by extremely skilled opponents. Before you say what you're going to suggest; no. Can't afford to."

Naruto stared at the intensity in Shikashi's eyes and met it with his own. Shikashi definitely had his wits about him and Kakashi's perceptiveness. He had the ability to think quickly and in dire situations which was what was required of him. He held his gaze for another few minutes before giving a curt nod and they both dashed forward, hoping to get back to Konoha sooner rather than later and lose their tail on the way.

* * *

They sped through the branches near lightning's pace. They darted up and below and jumped from one tree to the next sometimes skipping two or three trees in a single bound. They had been going for four hours now and were near the rendezvous Tsunade had set up for them.

Then one of them came to a sudden halt and held up his fist to stop the rest of his team.

"What is it?" his second-in-command came up beside him.

"Look around," the leader replied in a tight voice.

The brown-haired ANBU did as he was told and took in a deep breath, "Shit."

They looked at each other, gave a slight nod and descended to the ground. The four stood back-to-back in a relaxed defensive stance, kunai in hands at chest level and slightly crouched. Their darted around the small clearing in the forest and waited for their adversaries to appear.

_Where are they? Why aren't they attacking?_ The leader asked himself mentally.

The clearing had patches of blood soaked ground and the trees surrounding them had scorch marks and scratches all over them. Chunks of earth were overturned. The place was a battle-ground and the leader knew only of one thing that could make such restricted destruction; the Kyuubi could only be held back so much when Naruto went into a fit of rage, even though he had accomplished becoming one with it.

"This needs to be reported to the Hokage, immediately," one of the other members stated.

"Leave it to me." And within seconds the fourth member had a scroll out and with a few quick strokes of his brush, produced one of his animated ink birds which soared off in the direction of Konoha.

The leader nodded at him in thanks before turning to face the way they had been heading, "Let's carry on. Keep eyes and ears open. Formation B; move out!"

And the group was off.

* * *

"Step away from him, Arisa," the man sighed like an indulgent parent as he watched the woman kneeling in front of the young man and stroking his hair.

"Oooh, but he's so pretty!" she pouted and continued to stroke his hair, then she suddenly snapped her head around to look at the older man who had spoken, "Can I keep him!?"

"No."

She pouted again before smiling and nodding her head to the other side, "What about him?"

"No, Arisa. You can't keep either, they aren't pets,"

"But they could become pets. I could make them into my own pets and have fun with them any way I want to," she smiled slyly and stroked the blonde's cheek with her index finger, drawing blood at his cheek with her bright red finger nail and brought it to her lips.

"You have enough pets,"

"Yes, but they get boring after a while. They expect what I want them to do and are used to it so it becomes less fun. I want new ones who will dance with vigour when I play with them!"

"Enough! I said no, Arisa. Do not try my patience anymore." The man stood and nearly everyone in the room either gasped or took a step back. He was a tall man, around 6 ft 4 or 5. He had a scar running from his left temple to just below the right corner of his mouth. His eyes were steel grey and his hair was cropped short grey hair which was peppered with black and white strands. His voice was a slightly gravelly baritone. He had a slight limp which told everyone he had either had it from birth or suffered from an injury which never healed properly. Other than that, he held himself up straight and an air of confidence and authority about him. Anyone who looked at him could tell he was a shinobi.

"Where is Konichi? He should've been back by now," the large man started pacing slightly.

"We got word about ten minutes ago saying they were going to be delayed," one of his subordinates answered.

"Why?"

"They never said, sir."

"I told you you should have sent another team, one which was competent but did you listen to me? No, like always," Arisa huffed.

"Enough, Arisa. Unless you want to be sent back to do sentry or courier duty you will keep your mouth shut, is that clear?" he asked in a tone which brooked no argument.

She shot him a poisonous glare and replied without emotion, "Crystal."

"Haruda!"

"Yes, master?"

"Send out a back-up team. Konichi's team can't afford to be delayed,"

"Yes, master," Haruda scurried off to do his bidding.

"Katsumi-san?"

Katsumi turned to face the man who had called his name, "What is it?"

"Both teams have run into a slight altercation,"

"Altercation?"

"Y-yes. More Konoha ANBU,"

"Kuso," he clasped his hands behind his back, "Can they cope?"

"W-we're still receiving information, sir. But I think you're going to need to send the Kurohyou out,"

"Kurohyou!? But they haven't been out in over a year! Isn't that over-kill?" somebody else shouted out.

Katsumi sighed and sat back down on his ornate chair at the top of the dais. He held the bridge of his nose between his thumb and index finger and closed his eyes while thinking of what to do. Kurohyou was the best team he had but he also agreed with the woman who had questioned if it would be over-kill. He let the conversation which was taking place within the room to drift through his ears as he thought. It was risky; Konoha ANBU were lethal, he had numerous mementos to know this but he was also hopeful that he'd be able to use them for his own use. He just didn't want to sacrifice his best team to do so.

He remembered how badly it had gone seventeen years ago. He remembered how many were lost in that battle and how one of Konoha's most prominent shinobi had just slipped from his grasp. He was still annoyed over that lost. Maybe he could pay them back somehow but how? Then an idea came to him and a sinister smile slowly spread across his face. Everyone in the room went completely silent as he started to speak.

"Arisa, get your team together. It's time for Kurohyou to be deployed. Have them meet me in the Conference chamber. Our plans are going to have a slight alteration.

* * *

"_Shikashi,"_

_The young man rolled over and groaned. It was too early to wake up._

"_Shikashi,"_

"_Leave me alone..." he mumbled._

"_Shikashi," the soft, smooth voice called again. _

_This time, Shikashi did open his eyes and squinted against the bright light that was in front of him. Bolting up while rubbing his eyes he looked around for the voice. But instead he saw...training ground 7? He rubbed his forehead in confusion. How in the hell did he end up in Konoha? He was on a mission with Naruto, was he not?_

"_I'm so glad you're awake, Shikashi," he swivelled around to face the speaker and stopped in his tracks. _

_There, in front of him, was a pink-haired woman in a Konoha ANBU outfit. Her mask was pushed to the side of her head and she was leaning down to get a good look at him with a soft smile on her face, her eyes closed and in a crescent shape._

"_M-mum?" he asked in a shaky voice not quite believing his eyes._

"_Hai, Shikashi," she dropped down so she was sitting on her heels, "How've you grown. I can't really say who you really take after...apart from the hair colouration. Sorry for that," she gave a nervous giggle and rubbed the back of her head...just like his father always did._

"_Is it really you?"_

_His answer was a thwack on the back of his head which he rubbed at, "Of course it's really me you baka! I know you can't be that stupid! Please tell me you didn't pick up Naruto's scattered brain habits," she groaned in despair, "Honestly, I didn't think Kakashi would be that stupid to let Naruto take over all your training,"_

_Shikashi smiled, "No, no! He didn't. I've actually been taught from pretty much everyone. Tsunade, Shizune, dad, Naruto, Chouji, Ino, Genma, Shikamaru...all of them, really,"_

_He felt a feather light touch on his cheek and he looked up into the vibrant green of his mothers' eyes. She wasn't smiling but her eyes shone with pride and utter devotion, "I know, Shikashi. I've been watching you ever since you were born. You've grown into a fierce young man and an outstanding shinobi. I couldn't be more proud of you and nor could your dad. I know he's been kind of distant over the years but that wasn't anything you had done. Your father has never been able to let go of his regrets easily and his self-blame is absolutely phenomenol; nobody I know – or knew- could match it," she smiled sadly, "he's been on the hunt ever since your birth, Shikashi. He's been trying to find the people who killed me. He won't rest until he does, nor will the others. I also know that you've been brought into the case of what happened seventeen years ago, but I implore you to let it go...at least until the people who have captured you forget about you and Naruto. They're after something else."_

"_What?! What are they after!?" Shikashi clung to his mother's forearms._

_Sakura gave him a tight smile and her eyes held sympathy, "I can't tell you that, honey. Just, whatever they are after, you –and nobody else- can stop them. They're going to get it and you'll have to let them,"_

_Shikashi was frantic, "But! Why? Why can't you tell me? Mum..." he broke down and clung to her for all he was worth, "I don't want you to go, again. I want my mummy. I've missed you. There's a hole somewhere in me and it's only been filled a minute ago, the closest I've gotten to filling it is when I was at your grave. Please, don't leave me! Please..."_

_Sakura cradled her son in her arms and stroked his hair all the while making calming noises._

"_My beautiful boy. I have to leave you," she bent and kissed him on the forehead before bringing him up to face-to-face, "Shikashi, listen to me. Are you listening?"_

_Shikashi nodded, "Y-yes, mum,"_

"_You're not going to have a lot of time when you regain consciousness. You're going to have to grab Naruto and get out of where you're being held. Once you're outside, run east and keep going. Your father and the other members of his ANBU squad will meet you a mile and a half out. Shikashi, whatever you do, don't stop. You're not safe and you won't be until you're back in Konoha." She cupped his cheeks, "I can only give you a few moments to get out, but only a few."_

"_M-"_

"_Go now, Shikashi. Just remember that I worship you and your father." She drew him into a tight embrace before pulling herself and her son up, "Go now, Shikashi!"_

"_B-"_

"_Now!"_

He blinked open his eyes and bolted to his feet. He could already tell that a powerful genjutsu was in place so he grabbed Naruto, who was lying to his left and lifted him over his shoulders before pushing chakra to his feet and fleeing. Thirty seconds after he heard explosions behind him and people shouting frantically to put out fires.

Soon he was out in the night air and racing to the east. It took him fifteen minutes to reach the ANBU team who looked like they had been through a few battles themselves.

"Shikashi! What-" his father began.

"No time," was his hasty reply as he sped past them, leaping branch to branch. He didn't know if he could tell them what had happened when they were back in Konoha, especially the part with his mother. But he didn't care, he knew his mother had just protected him and Naruto and given them their lives...again.

_Thank you, mother._

* * *

**This wasn't as long as I had anticipated but I got really hacked off with it. I've lost track of how many times I've edited it but I don't give a damn anymore. It's done and over with and I've got assignments to do and I don't even understand two of them and one has to be in this Wednesday and I haven't even begun it. Gah!**

**It's fairly short and I promise, as soon as things have calmed down and I'm not taking to hospital in the back of an ambulance after falling off a horse and twenty minutes later going into shock and becoming totally unresponsive, I'll get the next and quite possibly last part of this story out. And I'll try and put a lot of action in and try to make it super-doopey craptastic like this one.**

**At least it's progressing...o.o**

**Anywho...**

**Reviews and such are greatly appreciated!**

**Hope you enjoyed it and thanks for reading!**

**Lady Sassy Sas xXx**


	5. V

**Disclaimer: **I, Lady Sassy Sas, do hereby disclaim all rights to the wonderful world that is Naruto.

* * *

Shikashi walked in a lackadaisical matter down the main street of Konoha. It was five in the morning and already the merchants, stall owners, shop owners, and street vendors were getting ready for the busy day ahead. Nothing out of the ordinary, at all. He threw his head back and looked up at the brightening sky as if it were the most interesting thing in the world.

It had to be said that the young man wasn't in the current world. He was too busy inside his own head figuring out the many questions that were residing there. It had been four months since his mother had helped Naruto and himself escape from the clutches of an ex-shinobi. Shikashi was sure that's what the guy had been. But he was perplexed as to why he wanted them. As far as he knew, Naruto and himself had no ties to the guy...unless...

"That would explain why she showed up!" Shikashi gasped as the realisation came to him.

Suddenly he was sprinting through Konoha. A lot of the early morning faces turned as he sped past them, including a lot of his shinobi friends but he didn't stop to acknowledge any of them. His heart was racing from excitement and anticipation, his brain wired to the extreme as thoughts and fragments of information churned in his head, trying to make sense of the puzzle. He kept speeding on, passing buildings at a nearly supersonic rate, desperate to get to his destination.

* * *

"He didn't stop? He just...kept running?" Kakashi asked the brown-haired ninja to his left.

"Ah. Seemed like he was in a hurry to get to his destination, and he had that look, Kakashi,"

Kakashi whirled his head around to look the man beside him in the eyes with his own one brimming with surprise and questioning. He knew what look the man was talking about. He had seen it many a times in the green eyes of his deceased wife and it was a look that he loved; the look of pure determination to do what was right.

He smiled under his mask and turned back to look over the village from where he was perched on top of the 4th's head on Hokage Mountain, "Ah,"

* * *

"DON'T YOU DARE PRESUME THAT I DON'T WANT TO FIND OUT EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENED! SHE WAS MY DAUGHTER IN ALL WAYS BUT ONE! APART FROM HER BIOLOGICAL PARENTS, NARUTO AND YOUR FATHER, I KNEW THAT WOMAN BETTER THAN ANYONE!"

_Is it possible to go prematurely deaf from someone...roaring at you? _He thought as he scratched his ear and shook his head in an attempt to get the ringing to go away. He sighed silently and the bored look stayed on his face as he sorted through the information he had gotten earlier that morning. He was still trying to think of a way to get around the potential (but very likely) deaths of all who would be involved. Damn it! He was supposed to be brilliant at planning!

"...I understand, Hokage-sama and I wasn't saying that at all. Please understand that I had and have, no intention of insulting you. But, if we come up with a decent strategy will you at least look over the details and information and give it a lot of thought before you stab it through with a kunai altogether?"

Shikamaru watched as the blonde woman's eyebrow twitch in annoyance. He sincerely hoped that she would not shout again. He looked at the other occupant in the room. The determination permeated from his entire body and rolled through the room in intense waves. His green eyes were hard giving nothing away except for his determination.

He couldn't help but think Shikashi was going to surpass every generation already in the village. Even his famous intelligence and ability to get out of difficult situations with little casualties. Yes, Shikashi was definitely on his way to becoming a new legend throughout the shinobi and maybe even civilian, world.

_At least I won't have to deal with troublesome situations anymore. And I won't have to deal with a troublesome, angry, foul-mouthed, shouting blonde Hokage an-_

"NARA! GET YOUR LAZY ASS OUT OF MY OFFICE!"

_But for now, I do..._

* * *

"How do you figure?"

"Well, why else would he have captured Naruto and myself? Moreover, why would mum appear?" Shikashi answered as he hunched over the map on the table. Shikamaru, Ino, Neji, Hinata, Naruto and himself had been looking at countless maps of the same area for hours now and still nothing.

He ran his hands through his pink hair in frustration, leaning on his elbows. It was getting extremely frustrating to be very close to the answer behind his mother's death but not being able to uncover it.

He slammed his hand down on the conference table before getting up and pacing the room.

They all smiled as Shikashi started muttering furiously to himself with a look of agitation and confusion on his face, chewing on his thumbnail as he did so. They all remembered Sakura doing the exact same thing.

"What was the last mission she was on?" Shikashi suddenly asked.

Shikamaru, Neji and Ino started to fumble through the scrolls littered around the desk.

"It was an undercover mission. She was sent to Suna with her ANBU team. They apparently visited a town outside of Suna about five hours away. According to Gaara she never returned to report to him and that was the last thing he heard about her or her team before she turned up at the gates of the village, about ten minutes from death's door." Naruto finished.

Shikashi flashed back to the time Naruto had first brought him here and he and Shikamaru had started to bring him in on the events just before his mother's death and his birth, "There's nothing else?"

"Not that I'm aware of. She never told anyone what happened. And any time anyone tried to bring it up she either deflected the question or completely ignored it and closed herself off."

Shikashi let out a breath of frustration and pursed his lips and furrowed his brows. He wondered what had happened that made her so tight lipped about the mission. It didn't make sense that she wouldn't tell his father and even less sense that she wouldn't tell the Hokage. They were missing something and that something could only be found in one place. There was no guarantee that anything would be there or that the people she may have come across were still alive eighteen years later but it was the only shot they had.

* * *

"Please, Tsunade-sama. I know it's a very long-shot but I wouldn't ask unless I didn't think we would find something. Please." Shikashi pleaded.

Amber eyes stared at him in a calculating way. Tsunade very much doubted the boy would find anything out. That and she had no idea where this town was or how to get there. They would have to ask Gaara's permission to get an escort and she knew they were having their own share of problems in Sunagakure at the present time.

She sighed, "I will grant it _but_ I don't know how long it will take to get permission for a Suna escort to this town. You'll need one. As Naruto and some of the others are already aware, there have been a number of attacks in Suna and Gaara has most of his corps working on trying to find the culprits. I've also had to lend him some of our best Sensory-nins," she paused to take a gulp from her Saké before continuing, "I'll put this down as an S-rank mission. I'm giving you _two_ weeks to find whatever it is you might or might not find. Neji, Tenten and Kiba will be your team and back-up will be Naruto, Hinata, Anko and…hmm, he should be back by the time Gaara gives permission. Yes, the last on the back-up team will be Kakashi."

Shikashi froze at this. It would be the first time that he would be out in the field with his father, out in the field as an ANBU squad no less. It was fairly daunting considering his father's reputation within the corps.

"Team leaders are you, Shikashi, and Hinata. I'll send a messenger to both of you when you are to leave. Dismissed!"

* * *

He swallowed for the nth time in the last hour. They had made it to Suna three hours ago where they were met by their escorts. They had wasted no time and had started off towards the town his mother and her ANBU team had visited.

Their back-up team had remained in Suna and would do so unless they were needed in which case one of Kakashi's ninken – in this case Shiba – would inform him immediately and they would use the transport scroll that Neji currently possessed.

Sweat was running down from his forehead and into his eyes and it took Shikashi a bit of patience not to shove his mask aside and rub it away. He wasn't used to the searing heat.

"So why do you need to visit this place?" one of their escorts asked breaking the silence.

Shikashi didn't bother replying to absorbed in his thoughts and theories. It was Tenten who answered with "Classified." In a tone that ended the conversation before it had even begun.

Shikashi sighed. The sooner they got there, the better.

* * *

They had finally made it!

"First thing's first: get a drink." And with that Shikashi headed towards the small pub.

"Glass of water please." He stated to the man behind the bar. As soon as it was set down in front of him he drained it and asked for another before turning his attention to the room and watched the few occupants in the room. He saw that his team were sitting in one of the alcoves near the back all pretending to be drinking and having a laugh but he knew better. There were five other occupants spread out around the place. Two sitting in another booth by the front, the other's dotted about and by themselves.

They had changed into civvies about an hour before entering the town so that they didn't stand out like sore thumbs. He continued to glance about the place and the only person to catch his attention was an elderly woman who appeared to be in her late seventies, early eighties. The first thing that had caught his attention about her was that she was actually _in_ the pub in the first place. The other was that she appeared to be in good physical shape.

"That's Hana-obaa-san. She always comes here around this time, has for the past eighteen years. She only ever orders the most expensive Saké I've got." The bartender imparted.

"Huh…what brand?"

Instead of answering the man disappeared behind a door and brought back a bottle. Shikashi stiffened when he recognised it, "I started importing it around eighteen years ago when someone gave me a bottle,"

Shikashi forced himself to relax and spoke slightly quieter than before, "Can you remember who gave it to you?"

"Ah. A woman, she was in her mid-twenties, with blonde hair and green eyes. Beauty if I ever saw one,"

A jolt went through Shikashi, "What was she wanting? Did she talk with anyone in particular? Was she looking for something?" his questions were fired eagerly.

"She was most definitely looking for someone or something but I never found out what it was. She spent most of her time with Hana-san over there before they upped and left with no word. Gone in a flash," and with that the bartender sauntered off to clean his glasses.

Shikashi smirked before grabbing his glass and made his way over to the old woman.

"Excuse me but do you mind if I-"

"Not at all. I've been expecting you or your father for the last eighteen years, Shikashi," the woman smiled at him gently.

"H-how do you know my name?"

"Your mother. She told me that either you or your dad would turn up eventually," the old woman poured herself some more Saké before consuming it

The teenager sat there looking stunned for a moment before he shook himself and sat a bit straighter. This woman had been expecting him. His mother had spent a majority of her time talking to her before taking off suddenly.

"Do you know what happened to her, Hana-san?"

"Hana is fine. And I don't know _exactly_ what happened but she did tell me some of it. And she also gave me this," she turned around a bit to search in her bag before pulling out a scroll and held it out to him to take, "Go on, take it. Only you can open it. She sealed it with her blood. She said it would explain everything and she told me to tell you she was sorry that she never got to be a proper mother as you grew up,"

Shikashi stared at the scroll in his shaking hand. His mother had planned this all out which meant that she knew she was going to die. She knew and didn't do anything about it. His fist clenched slightly.

"She didn't know; she guessed," his eyes snapped back to the elderly woman, "I'll start from the beginning. If you want, you can tell your team to join us," she smirked slightly at his stunned expression. He turned towards his team who had their eyes on him and he was about to shake his head but stopped himself. It would be easier to have this explained once to them and all they would have to do is repeat it once back in Konoha. With that in mind he motioned for them to join them.

"This is Hana-san-"

"Hana."

"Riight…and she's going to tell us about mother and her team staying here,"

Hana stared at him amusedly, "You look an awful lot like her. Same hair and eye colour, same fingers," she leaned forward and poked his side and laughed as he jumped, "Same ticklish spot; her son through and through."

The pink-haired teen squirmed under her speculation.

"How do you know what she looked like?" Kiba asked quietly.

"She showed me. She dropped her henge and showed me,"

"Why would she do that?"

"To show her trust in me,"

Shikashi stared at her silently trying to gauge her personality. There was something about her that drew him to her, something that told him he could trust her with anything. When she turned her grey eyes back to her they held an amused twinkle in them.

"Sakura-san came here eighteen years, five months ago. She was looking for a person who was rumoured to be here. Her and her team came in here in their uniform and started to question Isao there," she nodded her head at the bar, "She was looking for a man with shoulder length black hair, a scar that diagonally bisected his face. She said he was the owner of a merchant chain that was opening all across the five countries. I can't remember what they were dealing in but according to her, whatever they were said to be selling was a front for something illegal. According to her they were stealing, altering and reselling medicinal drugs.

"I had seen him pass through and so I told her. She proceeded to question me about him but I couldn't tell her much beyond that I had seen him pass through. She wasn't exactly happy about that and she was extremely frustrated and highly scared. She tried to hide it but I could see it in her eyes. Whatever was with this man, she was terrified of him or what he would or had done. But I could also see the glittering determination in her eyes to find him so I offered my help." Hana's eyes were filled with sadness at the memory.

They were all staring at her now absorbing the information and trying to come up with answers to questions running through their minds.

"What happened after that? Did she find him?" Kiba asked.

"I don't know. I just told her where he had visited in this town and pointed her towards the people he happened to talk to. A week after I told her and she and her team went about their business she came back more agitated and angry. She spent that week drinking Saké like it was oxygen and muttering furiously to herself and making notes upon notes. Her team steered well clear of her for that week and warded off anyone who tried to talk to her apart from Isao and myself. She didn't speak of her thoughts and wouldn't let anyone – not even her team – look at her notes.

"The next week she spent giving me ways to contact her including leaving one of her summons, telling me that if he ever returned to contact her immediately and then they left. I never saw her again after that but before she did leave, she told me about her pregnancy and gave me that scroll saying that if either her husband or her son came looking to give them that scroll. She said that she had left out something extremely important out of her last mission report that would influence her near future. She knew she was going to die but she didn't know when or how and, although she never said it, I could see in her eyes that it was going to be by the workings of the man she was after,"

She sighed as she reminisced that month before returning her eyes to Sakura's son, "She loved you from the moment she knew you existed. She was apprehensive about being pregnant and didn't want to get her hopes up which is understandable after what she went through but she worshipped you,"

Shikashi just nodded but something in the woman's eyes caught his attention. He stared at her without blinking and she returned it. Something passed between them unspoken but he suddenly broke out smiling and got up and went around the table and gave the elderly woman a bear hug, "Thank you," he whispered.

She squeezed him and patted his back, "You're welcome. Will you be staying the night?"

Shikashi turned his gaze out the window before looking at the clock. They had been here for ten hours already, "Iie, we have to go back. Thank you for taking the time to talk to us and for this," he held up the scroll.

"It's no hassle. From what I've witnessed and heard you are like her in many ways, Shikashi. She would be proud to see you,"

He nodded and held back the tears of heart-felt gratitude before turning his attention to his team, "We're moving out,"

As they left, Shikashi turned his head to look both at the bartender and Hana, nodded and left.

_Everyone's going to be interested in hearing this. And I'm going to open this scroll as soon as we reach Suna._

* * *

**_Well, I finally got over the plot-block for this chapter! Thank the lord! I hate when that hits and it hits me frequently, GAH!_**

**_Anyway! I hope you enjoy this next chapter and I'm sorry it took soo long! And sorry if it's jumpy!_**

**_Lady Sassy Sas xXX_**


	6. VI

**Disclaimer: **I, Lady Sassy Sas, do hereby disclaim all rights to the wonderful world that is Naruto.

* * *

Kakashi stared at his son and the rest of his team trying to wrap his head around what they had just told them about their visit to the village and the conversation Shikashi had with the old woman there.

Sakura had been following some guy? More to the point, how did she know him? What was the connection between them? They were missing something. If they could have followed the trail her team had taken after leaving the village and towards Konoha he was sure they could find another piece to the puzzle.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw his son finger one of the compartments hidden in the ANBU vest he wore. It piqued his curiosity but he didn't bring attention to it. If his son wanted to talk about it then he knew he'd come to him. He always did. He felt pride swell in him as he had many times in the past eighteen years. He was proud of what their son had accomplished in such a short period of time and that he knew he could come to his father for anything.

"Well, I think it would be best to let sleeping dogs lie until we're back in Konoha. Let's get some sleep and we'll meet at the walls at 08:00 sharp," Kakashi said as he stood up. Everyone else nodded and they all made their way to their rooms, Shikashi walking by his father's side in silence.

* * *

As Kakashi lay in bed, he felt the years catch up with him yet again. He was still in fit condition for fifty-six years of age but he wasn't what he used to be and it frustrated him. He knew he couldn't –wouldn't- retire until Sakura's case had been solved. But his bones were feeling the years to brutality they had been put through.

He brought his right arm up and rested it on his forehead as he stared at the ceiling. The sun had set hours ago and there was a slight cool breeze but he ignored it. He wondered what was in the scroll Shikashi had acquired. He hadn't seen it but it didn't take a genius to figure out it was a scroll. He was sure Shikashi would reveal it in his own time.

He sighed before turning onto his front, closing his eyes in order to try and fall asleep. Usually he read Icha Icha but he had been doing that less and less over the last few years. He wasn't sure why this was but for some reason it didn't bother him all that much. He followed his thoughts until his consciousness fell to the back of his mind and his sub-conscious took over.

* * *

_Kakashi let his feet take him to where ever. He wasn't in a rush to be anywhere or do anything and even if he had been his pace wouldn't have picked up any. He'd already visited the Cenotaph, Tsunade had given him a week off and he was at a loss of what to do so he did the usual._

_Book in hand he made his way to the Fourth's monument and sat in his ear and read Icha Icha Paradise. It was early morning and the sun was already blazing down on Konoha and the surrounding Fire Country. It was the middle of summer and it was sweltering but this didn't seem to phase Kakashi's body one bit; it didn't matter how hot it got, he always remained cool._

_He doubted he'd be disturbed as only a few people knew to find him here for he was hidden from view of the steps that led to the top of the Hokage Monument. And the people who did know where to find them were out on missions or were running errands._

_His eye_ _became glazed as he reached the only sweet scene in the whole Icha Icha series. It wasn't a sex scene for the sake of the characters having hot, sweaty, steamy sex. No, this was the one scene were Jiraiya had taken pride in showing how a man could love his woman. It wasn't fast paced. It was sweet, sensual and endearing love scene and one he and Sakura had portrayed many times over their engagement and marriage. It was his favourite scene; the crease at the top corner where he had dog-eared it countless times, could testify to that. _

_It had also been Sakura's second favourite scene to play out of the series. Her first being far more promiscuous and daring. She had even given him a run for __**his**__ sexual prowess when it came to the more…explicit scenes. He smiled as many, many memories flew through his brain in quick succession._

_He shook his head and put away the book. It was obvious that reading wasn't going to be relaxing as it usually was. He felt a pang of pain as he thought about his wife. It never got any easier since she had been gone and the pain had never dulled. He knew it wouldn't; Minato, Rin and Obito had taught him that._

_Team Seven's training ground seemed to be the next place his feet brought him to but he never stopped. He carried on through the trees. He didn't pay any attention to his surroundings, lost in thoughts and memories. If only Sakura hadn't died. There were many times were Shikashi needed his mother and Ino and Hinata had tried to fill that hole but it never worked._

_Shikashi had proved to be strong though. Kakashi had few worries over the years Shikashi had grown. He had the tenacity of his mother and her compassion and her fierceness. But there had been difficult times when Kakashi could have used his wife's help in raising their child. The first time Shikashi had gotten sick, Kakashi freaked out (he'd never admit it) and had told Pakkun to get Tsunade, stating it was an emergency. Suffice it to say she and Shizune had most definitely not been impressed when they had been pulled out of a hospital board meeting to attend a child inflicted with the common cold._

"_Kakashi," a soft voice carried on the breeze whispered in his ear._

_He was brought up short and paid attention to his surroundings for the first time. He was in a large field in the middle of the forest. And in the middle of the field… "Sakura?"_

_His wife just smiled serenely and held her hand out to him. Kakashi ran to her and ignored the proffered hand choosing instead to engulf her in a hug. He spun her around as he held her close. He didn't stop to think of how she was there but he knew it was her and not some trick. It was her chakra and scent and touch through and through._

"_Sakura," he breathed as he brought her back to the ground but still held her close to him._

"_Hai, Kakashi. I'm here," she whispered as she held him close to her in return, her head resting perfectly against his chest._

"_How?"_

"…_I'm not sure, to be honest,"_

_Kakashi pulled away and stared down at the pink-haired beauty. His eye searched hers and he seemed to find what he was looking for before crushing her to him again._

_Sakura giggled and pushed him away, "Are you trying to suffocate me, you big oaf!?" she smiled brightly and she gently pulled him to the ground with her where she snuggled into him._

"_I don't understand," he said after a while._

"_That makes the two of us," she replied quietly._

_Kakashi shook his head, "I don't care. As long as you're here, nothing else matters," he tightened his hold around her slightly._

_They lay in silence, watching the sun move across the sky and the birds singing in the trees. Sakura shifted just as the sun was setting and he felt her hesitate in saying something before she found her resolve to tell hi._

"_Kakashi?"_

"_Hmm?"_

"_All of you are in trouble. Konoha as a whole,"_

"_What do you mean?" he frowned._

_He felt her take a deep breath before answering him, "I don't know. All I know is that the person who…killed me is coming after Konoha. The scroll I left to our son probably tells what you all haven't figured out yet but he can't open it," she shifted and knelt beside him before smiling at him sadly, "It's time for me to go,"_

_Kakashi didn't get time to reply before her lips were on his un-masked ones in a bittersweet kiss and then she was gone. He looked around him in confusion trying to make sense of what had just happened._

* * *

Kakashi bolted upright in his bed, covered in sweat. His heart was racing and he was panting and warm. He fumbled for the bedside lamp switch and light flooded his room. He looked at the clock. It was 04:30 and it was only beginning to get light outside. He rubbed his forehead and took a few moments to calm his heart and breathing.

He knew he wasn't going to get to sleep again so he got washed and dressed and leant on the wall of the balcony and looked over the village of Suna. If there wasn't enough plaguing his mind already, the dream he just had added to it. The only thing he could do now as he waited for the others to wake up was to try and make sense of it.

* * *

"Tou-chan, are you alright?" Shikashi questioned his father as he approached the already assembled teams.

Kakashi glanced up from the ground at the sound of his son's voice. He had been walking with his attention turned inwards. He was still puzzling out the dream. It had felt so real. Sakura had felt real. But it was her warning that had his attention. Was it real? Could she be warning him somehow?

He frowned. _How can it be real? She's dead. But then Shikashi had seen her when he and Naruto had been captured…could this be the same?_

"Tou-chan?"

Kakashi shook his head and rested his eye on his son who was frowning at him in concern, "I'm fine. Everyone ready? Good, move out."

The all took off and Kakashi spent the whole journey in his thoughts only answering questions that were directed at him.

* * *

**Two stories updated in one day? Hell yes! And I'm gonna make it three! I'm on a rollllllll!**

**Anyway, a sort-of filler chapter but a chapter nonetheless! **

**Please review! I love reading opinions my readers and as always, I asnwer every one of them unless it's a guest review in which case I can't.**

**Much love to you all!**

**Lady Sassy Sas xXx**


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